CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



OF THE 



TOWN OF ORFORD, N. H. 



CONTAINING THE 



ORATION, POEMS AND SPEECHES, 



DELIVERED ON 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1865, 



WITH SOME ADDITIONAL MATTERS RELATING TO THE HISTORY 
OF THE PLACE. 









HENRY A. GAGE, PRINTER. 
Manchester. N. H. 



6457 



PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS. 



At the annual meeting of the legal voters of Orford, 
holden at the Town House, on Tuesday, the 8th day of 
March, 1864, the subject of celebrating the One Hundreth 
Anniversary of the settlement of the town was considered 
at length, and it was 

Toted, That a committee of three be chosen, with full 
authority to make such arrangements, and adopt such 
measures in behalf of the citizens of the town, as in their 
opinion would be most appropriate to the occasion. 

Henry H. Howard, Henry S. Perrin, and Arthur Mars- 
ton, were appointed that committee. 

At a subsequent, adjourned meeting, March 14, 1865, 
it was 

Voted, That a sum of money, not exceeding five hun- 
dred dollars, be placed at the disposal of the committee to 
be expended in defraying the expenses of the proposed 
celebration. 

At subsequent meetings of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments, the following appointments were made : 

President of the day — Gen. Gilman Marston, of Exeter, 
N. H. 

Chief Marshal — Maj. Frederic M. Edgell, of Orford, who 
selected for his assistants, the following gentlemen, viz : 
Col. John Haselton, Capt. Henry Dayton, Capt. Asel B. 
Griggs, Ira M. Clark, Esq., and Messrs. D. E Willard and 
William Caverly. 



Eev. Joel Mann, of New Haven, Conn., was invited to 
deliver the oration, and accepted the invitation. 

Rev. William S. Palmer, of Wells River, Vt., was 
appointed chaplain. 

E. B. Hale, Esq., was appointed to read the charter of 
the town. 

William Howard, Esq., was appointed Toast Master. 



The following Committees were appointed : 
COMMITTEE FOR ARRANGING TABLES, 



&c. 



D. P. Wheeler and Lady, 
Wm. Howard " 

Ira M. Clark 
D. T. Hale 
Henry A. Dame " 
Albert Newcomb ' ' 
Arthur Marston ' ■ 
Miss Martha J. Perrin, 
Miss Clara Haselton, 
Albert Page and Lady, 
Parker Wright " 
D. E. Willard 
A. B. Palmer " 

Miss Susan E Wheeler, 
Mrs. S. A. Bugbee, 
John Richardson and Lady, 
D. G. Marston " 

A. Soule " 

Mrs. Mary Wilcox, 
Edward Ford and Lady, 
Miss Annette Edgell, 
Miss Cornelia Demick, 
F. L. Demick and Lady, 
John Rogers ' ' 

Chas. H. Riley and Sister, 
Miss Martha A. Howard, 
Miss Amelia Chandler, 



Miss Francena Mann, 
Miss Sarah A. Richardson, 
Nathaniel Russell and Lady, 
Misses Dame, 
Royal R§al and Lady, 
Miss Maria Davis, 
Miss Elvira Williams, 
Samuel Stone and Lady, 
Frank Niles 
Eben Woodbury 

P. C. Kenyon 

Nath'l Sargent 

Stevens Chandler 

Miss Emma Mann, 

Miss Julia Mann, 

Miss Celista Page, 

Miss Julia Lock, 

Miss Maria Lock, 

A. B. Ball and Lady, 

Hezekiah Fuller and Lady, 

Miss Edna Fuller, 

Gilbert Jeffers and Lady, 

Henry Loomis " 

Willis Bugbee 

H. M. Smith 

Alexander Pierce " 



COMMITTEE FOR PROCURING LUMBER AND BUILDING 
SEATS, TABLES, &c. 

John Haselton, J. K. Avery, 

Levi D. Corliss, A. Brock, 

Parker Wright, John H. Phelps, 

Carlos Mann, George Lamprey, 

Charles Riley, Daniel T. Hale, 

John Rogers, Thomas K. Hale, 

Frank Trussell, Ira Gordon. 

COMMITTEE ON DECORATIONS. 

Leonard Wilcox, Albert Demick, 

Henry I. Cnshman, Scheller Hosford, 

Peleg Cushman, John Howard, 

Augustus Conant. John Haselton, Jr.., 

Atherton Wales, Edward Dayton, 

Thomas J. Fifield, S. W. Hale, 
A. B. Palmer, 

COMMITTEE FOR FURNISHING WATER, ICE, &c 
Levi D. Corliss, Willis Bugbee, 

COMMITTEE FOR DISTRIBUTING TICKETS. 
Charles W. Pierce, Nathaniel R. Sargent. 

COMMITTEE FOR TAKING TICKETS AT ENTRANCE OF 
PAVILLION. 
Isaac Willard, Edward Whitford. 

COMMITTEE FOR ARRANGING SINGING. 

Charles W. Pierce, B. F. Trussell, Nathaniel R. Sargent. 

COMMITTEE FOR PROCURING POWDER AND MANAGING 

GUN. 
Geor.o-e W. Fifield. 



The following gentlemen were appointed Vice Presidents 
of the day : 

Hon. D. E. Wheeler, New James Learned, Esq., Orford. 

York. Mr. Asa B. Palmer, 

A. S. Wheeler, Esq., Boston. " John J. Cushman, " 

A. A. Dame, Esq., " Henry A. Dame, Esq., 

Hon. Chas. B. Hall, « Mr. Elliott Johnson, 



S. Marston, Esq., Hartford, Ct. 

Dr. D. Dayton, South Bend, Ind 

Rev. B. M. Tillotson, Manch'r. 

S. M. Wilcox, Washington. 

Mr. A. Hale, Jr., Cambridge- 
port, Mass. 

T. M. Dewey, Esq., Westfield, 
Mass. 

Theo. S. Dame, Esq., Boston. 

J. T. Dame, Esq., Clinton, Ms. 

Capt. Jerem'k Marston, Orford. 

Dea. Stephen Cushman, " 

Capt. E.N. Strong, 

Maj. D. P. Wheeler, 

Stedman Willard, Esq., " 

Dr. Willard Hosford, 

Capt. James Dayton, " 

Col. Philip Turner, 

John Rogers , Esq. , ' ' 

Mr. Carlos Mann, ' ' 



A. S. Riley, Esq., Orford. 

Mr. John Richardson, " 
" William Tallman, 

Dr. D. G. Marston, 

Ira M. Clark, Esq., 

Mr. J. M". Sawyer, 
" Abijah Stone, 
" Aaron Hale, 
" John Bickford, " 

" Aid en Ford, " 

" Daniel T. Hale, 
" Hazen Carr, " 

" Jesse Carr, " 

" Stevens Chandler, " 
11 Parker Wright, 
" EbenGage, " 

" Clark Lovejoy, *' 

" Nathan Grimes, " 

"" Benjamin Truss ell, " 
" Benjamin H. Mies, ,, 



The preparations were completed, and all things were 
ready on the morning of the 7th of September. 

The day was ushered in by the ringing of bells and dis- 
charge of artillery, and was all that could be desired. The 
sky was unclouded, the atmosphere bland and invigorating, 
a gentle shower the day before laid the dust which for 
weeks had been intolerable, giving a brighter hue of green 
to the grand old Elms and Maples which adorn the Streets, 
and all nature seemed attired as if for a gala day. 

From an early hour in the morning crowds came pour- 
ing in from every direction, and by the time the procession 
was ready to move, the streets were thronged with joyous 
and smiling countenances. 

The route of the procession was ornamented by Flags 
and Streamers. The great National Flag spanned the 
street, bearing for a motto the words clear to every return- 
ing son and daughter, " Welcome Home." 



The procession was formed at nine o'clock in the follow- 
ing order : Chief Marshal, Bradford Brass Band, President 
of the Day and Orator, Chaplain, Reader of the Charter 
and Toast Master, Vice Presidents, Rev. Clergy, Specially 
Invited Guests, Committee of Arrangements, Selectmen of 
Orford, Singers, Citizens of Orford, Children, Citizens of 
Other Towns. 

The children, numbering some four hundred, each bear- 
ing a miniature National Flag, under the particular direc- 
tion of Mr. D. E. Willard, was a very pleasant feature of 
the procession. Next came a division under the especial 
direction of Col. John Haselton, preceeded by a company 
admirably disguised as Indians, followed by a Pioneer in 
the costume of olden times, with knapsack, gun and axe. 
Next came a neat log cabin, its busy inmates engaged in 
the various household duties in vogue a century ago. 
Next came a vehicle with farming and various other imple- 
ments of ancient date, with those of the present most 
approved patterns ; then a fine representation of the various 
trades and professions, followed by horseback riders, male 
and female, contrasting the old with the new. This part 
of the procession was both very attractive and suggestive, 
and added much to the interest of the occasion. 

The procession moved though the principal street to the 
Academy grounds, where a spacious stand for the officers, 
speakers, <fcc, with seats for the accommodation of about 
two thousand persons, had been erected. 

The assembly being called to order by the Marshal, he 
introduced Gen. Gilman Marston, President of the Day, 
who made a brief and eloquent address. The Order of 
Exercises was as follows : 

Music by the Band. 

Invocation and Reading of Scriptures by Rev. William S. Palmer, 

Prayer by Rev. William S. Palmer. 



ORIGINAL HYMN 



BY HENRY J. CUSHMAN. 



God of our Fathers ! at Thy throne 
We humbly bow : arid earnest pray 

That Thou, Almighty One, alone 
May'st guide us through this festal day. 

O Thou, who clid'st our Fathers lead 
'Mid storms and tempests without fear, 

Through forest shade and lonely mead, 
To this loved spot, to us so dear. 

Make us to feel thy goodness, Lord ! 

Help us to consecrate this place 
Anew to Thee, with one accord, 

As worthy sons of noble race. 

A century has passed away, 

Since here first rose the prayer on high— 
" Give us our daily bread this day" — 

From truthful hearts, not wont to sigh. 

Their prayers and labors Thou didst crown 
With bounteous blessings. Oh ! how rare — 

A quiet home — a pleasant town, 
With site so grand, and sky so fair. 

We bless Thee for thy mercies past 
To those who here have chanced to dwell, 

Through all these years, which fly so fast, 
Crowned with such goodness— who can tell ? 

Continue, Lord, to bless this place; 

Bless us, who here have known thy love ; 
And take us when we've run our race, 

To our eternal home above* 



ADDRESS 



Our country, more dear to us now than ever, since it 
has come out triumphantly from the bloody ordeal of civil 
war, is distinguished from all others by the rapid increase 
of its population, the resources of prosperity, and the un- 
tiring energy of its inhabitants. The oblivious past has 
often been reviewed to show how wonderously changes and 
improvements have succeeded each other. These improve- 
ments are seen in husbandry, in mechanical operations, in 
education, in science, in locomotion, in everything that 
relates to the elevation and happiness of the nation. 

We have come together to-day to contemplate this sur- 
prising progress in a single locality, — to look over the large 
space that intervenes between the present and the time 
when the towering forest, the growth of ages, began to- 
yield to the power of the human arm ; and the home of 
the roaming red man became the home of the cultivator 
of the soil and the reverent worshiper of God. Divine 
wisdom, beneficence, and providential care shine out from 
the scenes of the past ; and this centennial survey of them 
can hardly fail to impress us with His paternal kindness 
towards those, whose privations and labors have prepared 
for us so many privileges and enjoyments. It is fit that 
we should "remember the days of old," and the things 
" our fathers have told us, what works God did in their 
days ;" that we may tell it to the generation following, 
that they may set their hope in him ; praise him for his 



10 

mighty works ; and trust him for all that is embosomed in 
the future. 

With filial reverence and love, I must needs begin with 
John Mann, Esq., my much respected father, and with his 
ever faithful and exemplary companion, whose maiden 
name was Lydia Porter, who were the first permanent set- 
tlers here. And if I show some pride of parentage and 
something of egotism also, I hope that in the largeness of 
your candor and kindness you will pardon me ; consider- 
ing, too, how you have provoked me to it. 

In the history of Hanover, Plymouth County, Mass., 
there is an extended genealogy of the Mann family, that 
being among the first settlers of the town. It states that 
Richard Mann, a planter, came in the May Flower with the 
Pilgrims, a young man in the family of Elder Brewster. 
The posterity of Richard spread in Plymouth and Norfolk 
counties, and many of their descendents are now resident 
there. One of Richard's descendents was the Rev. Sam- 
uel Mann, the first minister of Wrentham, Mass., and my 
revered father was his great grandson. Nathaniel, a son 
of Rev. Samuel Mann, came to what is now Mansfield, 
Conn., when it was a wilderness, being the first settler 
there in about 1720, and the town was called after his 
name. Having in after time purchased a farm in Hebron, 
Conn., he removed there for life, and there my parents 
were brought up. 

Of there early life I need not speak ; but with their 
married life the history of this town is intimately and in- 
seperably connected. Here they commenced a course of 
heroic unfaltering labors to which the social and religious 
condition of this town is far more indebted than its present 
inhabitants are aware of. They were married in Hebron, 
in the Episcopal Church, by the Rev. Samuel Peters, D. D., 
its first rector, and uncle by marriage of my father, on the 
Sabbath day, Feb. 17, 1765. 



11 

Nuptial scenes and honeymoons have greatly changed 
their fashions since those days. Splendid wedding gifts of 
much intrinsic value, enamelled cards in embossed enve- 
lopes, tied with an emblamatic silken knot, and wedding 
tours to cities and fashionable watering places, were things 
not known or dreamed of as the beginning of matrimonial 
felicity. The wedding tour of our youthful, parental ad- 
venturers was performed hither, through deep dark forests, 
across unbridged streams, where civilization had not fright- 
ened the wild beasts from their lair with its felling blows. 

The elder John Mann, my grandfather, of Hebron, Ct., 
finding that the original proprietors of this town were of- 
fering these distant, uninhabited lands for sale, selected and 
purchased one lot of fifty acres, at the lower end of this 
village, for which he paid one dollar an acre ; and this he 
gave to my father as his patrimony. For this Eldorado he 
started on the 16th of October, 1765, my mother on horse- 
back where the road was such that it was practicable to 
ride, with a wardrobe by no means ample for a bride. My 
father rode with her a part of the way, carrying a knap- 
sack, and some tools for coopering, and an axe, which in 
such hands wrought wonderous changes. 

On the day of their departure from Hebron for the wilds 
of Coos, the people of the village assembled to take an af- 
fectionate leave of these pioneer emigrants. With many 
tears and prayers they bade them farewell, scarcely expect- 
ing ever to see them again. Indeed, it was a greater, a 
far more hazardous undertaking than now to go to Califor- 
nia or Oregon. 

The Rev. Grant Powers, my classmate in college, in his 
" Historical Sketches " of the Coos country, says that " at 
Charlestown, N. H., Mr. Mann purchased a bushel of oats 
for his horse, and some bread and cheese for himself and 
wife, and set forward — Mann on foot ; wife, oats, bread and 
cheese, and some clothing, on horseback." 



12 

From Charlestown to Orford, a distance of 60 miles, 
there was no road, only a foot path with marked trees in- 
stead of guide boards. The path was frequently hedged 
across with fallen trees ; and when they came to such an 
obstruction which could not be passed around, the young 
bride was dismounted, the articles of lading taken off, and 
the horse made to leap the windfall. This was many times 
repeated. In one instance the impatient animal did not 
wait to be unladen, and leaped the trunk of a large tree, 
throwing the fair rider and all the luggage in a promiscu- 
ous heap upon the ground. Through a kind Providence 
no limbs were broken and no joints dislocated. All things 
being readjusted the journey was soon resumed. 

In Claremont two young men had made some clearing. 
In Cornish there was but one family, that of Moses Chase. 
In Plainfleld there was one family, Francis Smith. In 
Lebanon there were three families, Charles Hill, son, and 
son-in-law, Mr. Pinnick. In Hanover there was one fam- 
ily, Col. Edmund Freeman, and several young men making 
settlements. In Lyme there were three families, all by the 
name of Sloan. These afforded stopping places for rest 
and refreshment at night. New comers in the solitary 
wilderness were kindly welcomed and treated hospitably 
to the scanty fare. 

When they came to a stream that was too deep for wad- 
ing, it was necessary to go up till a place was found for 
safe crossing, and this with steep banks and tangled under- 
brush, must have been attended with much peril. The 
whole of this fatiguing and hazardous journey of about 
two hundred miles, was performed in eight days, averag- 
ing twenty-five miles in a day. They arrived here October 
24, 1765. What sinkings of heart there may have been 
in their trials on the way, we know not ; but we, who 
have heard from their lips the story of their adventures 
and perils, know that there was in them true courage and 



13 

indomitable perseverance. God made them capable of do- 
ing and bearing great things, and he sustained them 
through their privations and hardships. The love and 
hope which animated their hearts are ever strong incen- 
tives and sustainers. 

We have arrived now at the point which we this day 
commemorate, viz : The advent of the first residents here, 
and the settlement of this goodly town, which a gentleman 
is said to have styled, " The paradise of Connecticut riv- 
er." Rome, long the mistress of the world, is said to have 
been founded by Romulus and his twin brother Remus, 
suckled by a wolf; and long did it retain its wolfish char- 
acter. But Orford was founded by a Mann of the Puritan 
stock, a man of pure and noble aims, and of greatly useful 
life. Then began here material improvement and chris- 
tian civilization. Then nature began to yield to human 
power. Then was commenced the development of her 
great resources, and the disclosure of her latent beauties- 
God had placed his own granite bulwarks high and strong 
around as if for protection, human skill and diligence has 
made a rich landscape of a gloomy wilderness. The home 
of the savage has become the home of an intelligent, culti- 
vated, christian people, happy in the enjoyment of social, 
literary and religious privileges. 

Nearly forty years ago I received from my oldest broth- 
er, Major Mann, a written statement of many facts, in 
which he remarks, " When our parents arrived in Orford, 
there were Mr. Daniel Cross and wife, who had come in 
June preceding and some time afterward removed. They 
were living in a small log hut, covered with barks of trees, 
a floor of split logs hewed a little, near the bank of the 
river, having no chimney or hearth. Mr. Cross admitted 
the new comers into his cabin, agreeing to be equal in cut- 
ting wood and keeping a fire in the middle which would 
accommodate both. For a partition between them, blan- 



14 

kets were hung up, so that now they were comfortably sit- 
uated. When an augur was needed to make a bedstead, it 
was only to step nine miles through the woods to a Mr. 
John Chamberlain's, in Thetford, and borrow of him, who 
was the only person then living in that town. When the 
bedsteads and two or three chair frames were put together, 
it was only to step through the nine mile woods to return 
the augur. This labor and fatigue," he says, " was consid- 
ered as nothing. " 

As there was no land cleared, nor grain raised in the 
town as yet, Mr. Mann, understanding the business of 
coopering, worked in the evenings making pails and tubs. 
As soon as the river was frozen sufficiently, he piled them 
on a hand-sled, and drew them to Newbury, Vt., and there 
exchanged them for corn with the three families of John- 
ston, Bailey, and Hazen, who had been there three years, 
had cleared land and raised corn. This distance on the 
river was about twenty miles. The corn, with or without 
roasting, was pounded in large mortars, which were made 
of hardwood logs, excavated at one end by burning deep 
enough to hold from three to eight quarts. The finest 
part of this grain was made into cakes, the coarser part, 
called hominy, was boiled and eaten with milk, Mr. Cross 
having a cow. This was truly a patriarchal diet, and our 
modern Sarahs were fully competent to the preparation of 
it. The endless combination which the art of cookery 
now makes of everything eatable, together with foreign 
condiments, and leaves of Chinese shrubbery for decoction, 
had not then weakened the strength, relaxed the sinews, 
and made miserable dispeptics of our ancestral race. Mr. 
Powers says, " Mrs. Mann, after they were settled in their 
own tent, went to the river and brought all the water they 
used in a three pint basin, with' the exception of washing 
days." What would our young lasses think of beginning 
house-keeping in that way ? 



15 

" The more heavy articles of furniture and provisions 
were conveyed up the river in a small log canoe, the dis- 
tance being about two hundred miles as the river ran." 
But how that water craft was gotten past the several falls, 
must have been by a sort of hydraulic strategy of which I 
am not informed. All such work as civil engineering was 
hidden in the distant future. 

I have heard my father say that soon after their arrival 
here, on a morning after a pleasant day, they found a 
great depth of snow on the ground, which became two feet 
deep, and in a few days after, there fell as much more. 
They began to think that if this was to be the style of win- 
ter in their new home, they might be buried alive before 
the spring. Fortunately wood was close at hand and 
enough of it. A team to draw it was quite unnecessary. 
He had built a log cabin on a little rise of ground near the 
river ; and the melting of such a mass of snow in the 
Spring, so swelled the river that one morning they found 
themselves entirely surrounded with water. He took his 
wife in his arms, and carried her to a place which it had 
not reached. 

The labor of felling such a forest as nature had reared 
in this valley may be imagined from the fact which I have 
heard my father state, that the pine trees were, on an av- 
erage, two hundred feet high, and of enormous size, as was 
plainly seen from the decaying stumps, which in my boy- 
hood I helped to eradicate. Truly this was no delightful 
Arcadia, with grassy hills, and bleating flocks, and piping 
shepherds of which the Mantuan bard has so sweetly sung ; 
but instead, there was the interminable forest, the prowl- 
ing wolf, and the timid deer. 

John Mann, Jr., was the first child born in this town of 
the Anglo-American stock. Our family series thus begun, 
continued to increase until it numbered fifteen children, 
myself being the thirteenth. Truly, if other mothers have 



16 

done well, my mother excelled by adding thus much to 
the sober, industrious, thriving population of the place. 
She was a woman of great energy, ever ready to do good, 
and extensively known as given to hospitality, so much so, 
that her house was sometimes spoken of as " A free tav- 
ern." 

It is fitting that I should do honor to her on this occa- 
sion, and say that such mothers are worthy to be held in 
perpetual remembrance. They form and give the charac- 
ter to society. They build the State and furnish the pol- 
ished stones which ornament and strengthen the political 
edifice. It is of vast importance that the beginning of 
things in a community be such as they should be — that the 
foundations be of good materials, and be firmly laid, for 
on this the stability and safety of the structure greatly de- 
pend. If the early settlers in a town be skeptical contem- 
ners of religion, given to intemperance and other vicious 
practices, succeeding generations will show the blighting, 
degrading effects of such a moral virus. Their unsightly 
buildings, their slovenly unproductive farms, their want of 
churches and school-houses, proclaim to passers by the 
quality of the people. But, if the first settlers be such as 
were those who pitched their tents here — who revered re- 
ligion, and exemplified it in their lives ; who were ready 
to give and labor to establish and cherish the institutions 
of the gospel and of education, the result for long periods 
are the elevation of character, good order, domestic com- 
fort, and general prosperity. Titles of nobility do not con- 
stitute personal greatness. " True nobility is in the soul." 
And true greatness is there if anywhere. 

SirFowell Buxton remarked, "The longer I live, the 
more certain I am, that the great difference between the 
feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is 
energy, invincible determination, a purpose once fixed, and 
then, ' Death or Victory.' That quality will do anything 



17 

that can be done in this world, and no talents, no circum- 
stances, no opportunities, will make a two-legged creature 
a man without it." 

It should be mentioned and recorded, that Jonathan 
Sawyer, Edward Sawyer and Israel Morey came to Orford 
soon after my parents, and were also from the same part of 
Connecticut. These estimable citizens helped to convert a 
lone wilderness into a fruitful field ; and to form, by their 
co-operation, an enterprising and virtuous little colony. 
Their names occur frequently in the records, showing that 
they, with my father, sustained various offices in the town, 
and thus contributed to its good regulation and general 
welfare. Their descendents are now a portion of your es- 
teemed citizens, and maintain the industrious habits and 
exemplary lives of their ancestors. 

We come now to the chartering and organization of the 
town. 

The Charter bears date Sept. 25, 1761, and was given by 
George the Third, by the grace of God, King of Great 
Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c; 
and incorporates it by the name it now bears, and endows 
its inhabitants with " the privileges and immunities of 
other towns in the Province of New Hampshire." As a 
royal favor, which I believe was never so highly prized as 
to be practically enjoyed, it was granted, that " As soon as 
there shall be fifty families resident and settled, they shall 
have the liberty of holding two Fairs annually ;" also, " a 
market may be opened and kept one or more days in each 
week, as may be thought most advantageous to the inhab- 
itants. " Surely you should be thankful for this expression 
of royal regard for your welfare ; but I believe that ever 
since we became, by the grace of God, an independent na- 
tion, the people here have enjoyed the privilege of selling 
and buying provisions when and where they pleased, and 
have their market circulate on wheels for their convenience 



18 

The second condition specified in the charter is this : 
" All white and other pine trees within the said township 
fit for masting our royal navy, be carefully preserved for 
that use, and none be cut and felled without our special li- 
cense for so doing, be first had and obtained, upon the pen- 
alty of the forfeiture of the right of such grantees." It 
was well enough for the king to take good care of his pine 
trees ; and it is not to be expected that kings should know 
everything, or that his loyal subjects should tell him every- 
thing. I presume there were pine trees enough on my fa- 
ther's farm to have furnished the whole navy of England, 
as it then was, with masts for many years. Had he, and 
other settlers, waited for permission from the crown to cut 
pine trees, they would have been in danger of starving for 
want of bread and potatoes. They might have found it 
difficult to pay the rent specified in the charter, which was 
" one ear of Indian corn on the 25th day of December, 
annually," small as was that Christmas tribute. 

The Charter was signed by His Excellency Benning 
Wentworth, Governor of the Province, and Theodore At- 
kinson, Secretary, also by sixty-four Grantees. 

The first meeting of the proprietors under this charter 
was held in Hampton, near Portsmouth, Oct. 6, 1761, " to 
transact the affairs of the town of Orford." At an ad- 
journed meeting seven days after, " a committee was ap- 
pointed to go up and look the township well over and bring 
in, at the next meeting, a particular account of the good- 
ness of the land." That committee reported " the land 
very good, and a great deal of interval." The first 
meeting for appointing town officers was held on the 19th 
of March, 1J62, at the house of Jonathan Leavitt, in 
Hampton. A committee was then appointed to lay out the 
township into lots. 

At a legal meeting of the proprietors, Aug. 1, 1763, it 
was voted that " the first six settlers have fifty acres each, 



19 

twenty-five acres of that to be in the first division joining to 
the river, and to stand an equal chance in drawing with the 
other proprietors ; and that the first six settlers who move 
their families into the town, have a privilege of a stream 
and build a gristmill and sawmill, provided they build said 
mills in one year from this date. Yoted also, that the first 
six settlers have one hundred pounds, old tenor, each to be 
paid, — for the first year, fifty pounds, in two months after 
they are settled ; — the second year, twenty-five pounds, 
and the third year twenty-five." This was a liberal en- 
couragement for immigrants to plant themselves in the 
wilderness. Squatter sovereignty had not come into 
vogue ; for here were no prairies which have no forests to be 
felled. Another judicious method of securing a population 
here, and of sustaining it was, " the first six women who 
settle there shall have one cow each." My good mother 
was one of those honored six. 

It was also voted that " the seventh, eighth, ninth and 
tenth settlers shall have fifty pounds each, old tenor, in 
two months after they are settled." The term for them to 
settle was limited to eighteen months from July 25, 1763. 
The interval land was to be equally proportioned among 
the proprietors. 

The river road from Lyme to Piermont was originally 
ten rods in width ; afterwards it was reduced to six rods. 
In 1770, Messrs. Mann, Morey, Palmer, Loomis and Bald- 
win were appointed to lay out and survey the highways and 
roads that are necessary in the town. Their report of sur- 
veys is very particular, and closes thus : " Finding this to 
be nearly the centre of the town, and very commodious 
for to accommodate the situation of a meeting house, we 
thought it necessary to make it twenty rods for that pur- 
pose, and also for a town common." This is the origin of 
your ample public square. A few days after, it was voted 
to have the road through the town, four rods in width. 



20 

The first recorded act respecting public schools was 
passed in the year 1770, Oct. 8, when it was resolved " to 
hire a schoolmaster for six months." From this good be- 
ginning the education of the young has been cherished as 
a work of prime importance. The school-house was also 
used for public worship. 

At a meeting of the proprietors in Hampton, Jan. 22, 
1770, important action was taken in reference to the loca- 
tion of Dartmouth College, a Charter having been granted 
under the great seal of the Province. It was voted, " that 
in case the college should be located in the said township 
of Orford, to give and grant for the use and benefit of said 
college, forever, one thousand acres of land in said town ; 
equal in quality with the lots in general ; and the convey- 
ance to be made to the Trustees and their successors." 
" And as the Rev. Eleazer Wheelock is appointed Presi. 
dent of said college, and doubtless will settle himself and 
family in the town where the college shall be, — voted to 
give and grant to him, his heirs and assigns forever, one 
thousand acres of land in said town." And further, it was 
resolved in case the college should be located here, and 
Mr. Wheelock be settled here, " to give him the sum of 
one hundred pounds, lawful money," to be paid immedi- 
ately on his removal to this place. A committee was 
appointed to carry this into execution. 

To us who know the beauty of this landscape, the purity 
of the water, and the grandeur of the scenery ; and the 
unsightliness and destitution of attractiveness in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the place where the college now stands, 
it seems very strange that the liberal offers above cited 
were not accepted. 

The first church in this town was of the Congregational 
denomination, and was formed in 1770, and the Rev. Oba- 
diah Noble was its first pastor. The proprietors offered 
that in case no tax was laid upon their lands, they would 



21 

pay three fourths of his salary for the first and second 
years, and one half for the third and fourth years. 

The terms proposed by the town to him were these : "To 
give him, as a settlement, sixty pounds lawful money, also 
forty pounds as a salary for the first year, and that sum to 
be increased two pounds annually till it amount to sixty 
pounds, to be paid in wheat at four shillings, rye at three, 
Indian corn at two, and oats at one shilling and three 
pence per bushel, so long as he shall continue the pastor.'' 
Also " to provide and deliver to him twenty cords of good 
wood annually." At the same meeting Mr. Noble accept- 
ed this call, and was ordained and installed Nov. 5, 1771. 
Also a committee was raised " to agree with him relative 
to a plan of church discipline," meaning, as I suppose, 
church polity. 

In April, 1773, the selectmen were empowered to pur- 
chase of Rev. Mr. Noble and Israel Morey, a suitable tract 
of land for a training field, a meeting liouse spot, and a 
burying ground. Your present church edifice, and the 
north portion of your common, and your well arranged 
burying place, occupy the land thus purchased. 

This is an occasion intended expressly for reminiscences 
of things in the past ; and I suppose that I have the honor 
of my present position, because I know personally what 
there was here nearly seventy years ago. I remember the 
old log fence, made of the primitive pines, extending on 
each side of the road through nearly the whole of the vil- 
lage, and the stumps thickly scattered along, showing the 
fallen grandeur of the primitive forest. I remember well 
the old unpainted, weather-beaten school house, which 
stood on the corner of the road leading eastward, opposite 
the present one of brick. There it was, that under the 
tuition of the kind hearted Miss Abigail Hale, I commenced 
the acquisition of what little knowledge I have, by learning 
that puzzle of childish brains, the A, B, C. There on Sat- 



22 

urday, at the close of the forenoon exercises, we were rev- 
erently taught the Shorter Catechism, repeating after our 
much loved mistress the words of its sublime doctrines, 
quite incomprehensible to our youthful minds. But there 
is great utility in sound words. That, with the faithful 
maternal instruction at home was the beginning of our theo- 
logical education which some of us have been permitted 
to carry on to this day ; and yet we feel that we have very 
much to learn. 

I remember, as though it were but last year, the meeting 
of the singers in that school house on the Sabbath days of 
summer, to practice music under the leadership of my 
brother John with his silvery tenor voice, who was the 
chorister for about thirty years. At one of those meetings 
they sung the touching, soul-subduing tune, called Repent- 
ance, so sweetly and solemnly, that it affected me to 
tears ; and that melody has rung in my soul ever since. 
0, that I could hear it again, as I heard it then in my child- 
hood, How different from much of the monotonous, in- 
expressive music now in use. I remember the erection of 
the other school house, dignified with the name of Acade- 
my, where our education was continued, though very im- 
perfectly for want of system and thoroughness in the man- 
ner of instruction. There, afterwards, I was called to ex- 
ercise the functions of teacher ; and, at my solicitation, a 
bell was procured, the first that ever sent its echoes among 
the sloping hills and lofty mountains with which we are 
environed. 

I remember the erection of the first meeting house here, 
which has given place to its more ornate successor, and 
disappeared. Over the pulpit was suspended a heavy 
sounding board, which vibrated when the wind blew heav- 
ily ; and I used to think what would be the consequence 
if it should fall upon the reverend preacher's head. In 
that pulpit I made my first attempt at preaching the gos- 



23 

pel. I remember the first chaise that came here, owned by 
Capt. Storey. How we wondered when we beheld that 
luxurious vehicle. 

In giving the history of things which transpired here 
many years ago, I should not be excused, perhaps, if I 
passed, unnoticed, the beautiful mall which is so note-wor- 
thy a feature of this village. It was commenced in my 
boyhood in this way. The width of the street was to the 
line of trees nearest the center. A row of trees was set 
just within the fence, for protection, by my father. This 
row commenced at the road leading to the east village, 
and extended northward as far as to his house. After 
some years, the trees having grown to a handsome size, 
the fence was moved back to its present position, thus 
adding about one-third to the width of the street. The 
land was given for public use, my father being the owner 
of it for half a mile. This was done without solicitation, 
spontaneously, merely for ornament. Capt. Samuel Mo- 
rey was induced to do the same, he being the owner of the 
land the remainder of the distance to the public common, 
across which it has been since extended. I have been 
thus particular because it has sometimes been a question, 
who did the generous act ? I deem it desirable, therefore, 
to give my testimony to what myself saw done. This is 
now, and has long been, the chief ornament of this village, 
and is a lasting memorial of the public spirit and liberality 
of those who made it. In that spirit it should be carefully 
preserved and kept in perfect order. 

The following description appeared some years ago in 
the Evening Traveller of Boston, in a letter addressed to 
the editor, advising him to make an excursion to this 
place. " On no account fail to pass one full day in and 
around Orford. As it lies across the river from the rail- 
road, and is hidden under a luxuriance of foliage, a stran- 
ger would not be attracted by it ; but let him cross over 



24 

and he will begin to see the charms of what I consider the 
most charming country village I have ever seen. Observe 
that magnificent terrace, some dozen feet high— nearly a 
mile long — level and even as a work of art, but grand as 
the works of nature always are. It is one of the original 
-anks of the river, built not so much for the use of the 
dver, as for the site of those dozen elegant and comfort- 
able dwellings ranged along upon it. Now look at that 
mall, (and if you are not too weary, measure it on foot) 
one mile long — level as a house floor — straight as a line, 
and skirted with trees on both sides, the whole distance. 
Is there a parallel to this in the whole country ? In the 
next place I enjoin it upon you to awake in the morning 
at half past three, and hear the chorus of singing birds — 
and such a chorus — numberless — as from voices blest — 
uttering joy. It will make you forget that you ever heard 
a singing bird before. What wealth in nature ! There 
are two reasons why so many feathered musicians have 
settled here. 1st. The great number of ornamental trees. 
Tasty tenements will always find tenants, and birds have 
taste. 2d. Public sentiment in the village sets strongly and 
tenderly towards birds. Should one be wantonly killed, I 
verily believe they would toll the village bell, and then 
hang the murderer in effigy. 

Finally, cross over the river again to Fairlee, and make 
your way to the top of that majestic precipice that is low- 
ering down upon you. It seems to be one of nature's 
grand battlements, with here and there bastions projecting? 
as if to protect the nestling village beneath. When you 
have satisfied your taste for the terrible, look off and re- 
lieve your eye by the beautiful ; look down on church 
spires and tree tops under whose cool shades the village is 
reposing. See the fertile intervals stretching up and 
down the river for miles, the different farms and vari-colored 
crops, giving the appearance of a magnificent patchwork, 



25 

along which, ever and anon, the winding river shows its 
bosom, silvery in the sunbeams. If I mistake not the 
remembrance of your summer day at Orford will cling to 
you like the image of a beautiful friend so long as memory 
does its office." Rambler. 

I may be pardoned, perhaps, for introducing here a few 
lines of our talented poetess, Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, as 
expressive of my own feelings. 

''Sweetly wild, sweetly wild ! 

Were the scenes which charmed me when a child. 

Rocks, — gray rocks, with their tracery dark, 

Leaping rills, like the diamond spark, 

Torrent voices thundering by, 

When the pride of vernal floods swelled high. 
Here 'twas sweet to sit till the sun laid down 
At the gate of the west his golden crown. 

Sweetly wild, sweetly wild ! 
Were the scenes which charmed me when a child." 

The natural beauty and fertility of this part of the town 
attracted to it inhabitants of considerable wealth from other 
places. I may mention particularly, Capt. Joseph Pratt, 
Capt. Alexander Storey, Capt. George Ropes and his 
brother Hardy Ropes, — all from the fine old city of Salem, 
Mass. They purchased large farms, and helped greatly to 
support the religious and educational interests of the town. 
Their titles were acquired, not in the military service, but 
in maritime pursuits. They left the ploughing of the 
ocean for the safer though less remunerative work of 
ploughing the land. 

Capt. Pratt commanded the privateer which captured 
the " Grand Turk," a large English merchant ship, the 
model of which I have often seen in the Museum of Salem. 
As the privateer was owned by Mr. Gray, of Boston, the 
capture of that ship contributed much to his great wealth. 



26 

Gen. Israel Morey was one of the early settlers, a placid, 
easy gentleman, with benignant countenance ; and when I 
knew him his hair was blanched to perfect whiteness. It 
seems almost as if I could see him on his gentle horse 
passing by on summer days, with a slow trot, dressed in 
light colored garments, much in Quaker style, with a cloak 
thrown over one arm, the very personification of quiet 
enjoyment. 

What a genial man was his son, Samuel Morey, who 
built the house in which Dr. Hosford now lives. His phil- 
osophic mind was ever studying out some new invention- 
for the benefit of mankind. Had he lived where there 
were skillful mechanics and artificers to construct readily 
good models of what he invented, he would have been 
extensively known as an ingenious, practical philosopher, 
and valuable contributor to the arts. His experiments in 
steam and the rarefaction of atmospheric air to produce 
motion for propelling machinery, were among the first in 
this country. His various methods of heating rooms with 
little expense of fuel were very serviceable, as many of us 
know by agreeable experience, when the mercury was 
courting the small figures. To him, as is supposed, belongs 
the honor of being the inventor of the steamboat, though 
the public has accorded that honor to Fulton ; but I 
claim that honor for our townsman. If I am not mis- 
taken, Fulton obtained his first ideas of such a vessel 
from Morey, and secured a patent just as Morey had 
secured or was preparing to secure one for himself. Cer- 
tain it is, that the first boat moved by steam was a little 
thing constructed by him, and its trial trip was on this 
river, opposite this village. The trial was made on a Sab- 
bath, when the people were at meeting, to avoid notice ; 
when he with a brother of mine, passed up in it near to 
where the bridge now is ; for it was important to ascertain 
whether it would go against the current as well as with it. 



27 

My brother Cyrus, a few years ago, collected and published 
the proofs of the fact, that Morey was the real inventor of 
the steamboat, so far, at least, as steam could be applied 
to the propelling of such a craft. Had our ingenious 
townsman lived in Boston or New York where his facilities 
for constructing and making improvements would have 
been such as he needed, he would now probably be ac- 
knowledged as the projector of those floating palaces which 
are crossing oceans and visiting the remotest portions of 
the world. 

Morey was not a mere visionary experimenter or super- 
ficial sciolist in hydrostatics and pneumatology. His cor- 
respondence with the late Professor Silliman, of Yale Col- 
lege, shows that he was an ingenious inventor and practical 
philosopher. In the first volume of " Silliman's Journal 
of Science and Art," there is an article by John L. Sulli- 
van, Esq., of Boston, describing and commending Morey's 
apparatus for producing heat and light from tar or rosin, 
and the steam of water. He says : " The inventor, not 
unskilled in chemistry, and aware of the attraction of oxy- 
gen for carbon, conceived it practicable to convert the con- 
stituents of water into fuel by means of this affinity." 
Morey succeeded in producing carburetted hydrogen gas, 
which, issuing from a pipe and being ignited, gave a blaze 
as large as that of a candle, or " many hundred times as 
large," just at pleasure by increasing the steam ; — indeed a 
flame sufficiently large to fill a common fire-place. Thus 
Morey showed by his simple apparatus, that the burning of 
water is no hoax, but a reality ; and that private and pub- 
lic buildings could be lighted and warmed by the same 
gas. In the same volume is an article entitled, " The 
revolving Steam Engine recently invented by Samuel 
Morey, and patented to him on the 14th of July, 1815, 
with four engravings." A scientific description of it is 
given by the same author. 



28 

There is also a long, well written article, " On Heat and 
Light," by Mr. Morcy, in which he details various experi- 
ments made by himself, showing that the fumes of heated 
tar, rosin, or oil, mixed with steam of water, gives " a great 
body of flame and intense heat.'' 

In the eastern part of the town was the respectable fam- 
ily of Strong ; and the name was verified in the character 
of its members ; intelligent, upright, and thriving, obtain- 
ing an independency from a soil not the most propitious. 
The Rev. Jonathan Strong, D. D., long the loved and 
revered pastor of the Congregational church in Randolph, 
Mass., was the second male child born in this town. He 
was educated at Dartmouth College, and was the most 
impressive preacher I ever heard. His tall, full developed 
frame, his countenance strikingly expressive of firmness 
and decision, and his dignified manner bespoke attention 
to all that he uttered. His occasional visits here to his 
aged mother and family, Avere hailed with joyfulncss ; and 
we felt a strong desire to improve every opportunity of 
hearing him. I remember well two of the texts on which 
he preached when he paid his last visit to his native town 
fifty years ago. 

In the same neighborhood were the Palmers, steady, 
industrious, upright, estimable members of society, a good 
stock which has produced much good fruit. Time would 
fail me to speak particularly of the families of Sargent, 
Tillotson, Dame, and the two exemplary deacons, Taintor 
and Niles. Jeremiah Marston and Nathaniel Rogers were 
stable pillars in our social edifice, and held, as they well 
deserved, various offices in the town. I name these, 
because in my boyhood my feelings towards them all were 
of respect and veneration. They were the fathers of the 
town, and worthy to be had in long remembrance. 

I might mention, also, the families of Phelps, Blood, and 
Quint in the east part of the town, and Cross, Dayton, 



29 

Wm. Rogers and Win. Howard in this part, industrious, 
upright, respected citizens. 

John Mann, Jr., was the first, and for many years the 
only merchant here. He was also the first postmaster and 
held that office for a long period. Rogers and Doubleday 
were the next to establish a store. After them came John 
B. Wheeler and his brother Daniel, who prosecuted a large 
and successful business, and did much for the prosperity of 
the place. 

The physicians here in my youth were Todd and Hale. 
Unfortunately the temperance reformation did not begin 
its benevolent work till long after their decease. After 
them came the kind and attentive Dr. Eliphalet Kimball. 

The first lawyer was Abiather G. Britton, who was at 
one time a member of the State Legislature, and later, 
Jeduthan Wilcox, once a representative in Congress. 

The pedagogue rule was held for some years by that 
indefatigable teacher, Ephraim Kingsbury. 

The following extract from an obituary notice was 
written by a lawyer, our townsman, in the city of New 
York, and appeared in the New Hampshire Journal : " I 
was informed a few days since that the aged and venerable 
John Mann, Esq., has been gathered to his fathers. He 
lived to see a generation grow up who ought long to cher- 
ish the name of him who may justly be styled the Founder 
of Or ford. His memoirs, if well written, would be a 
valuable addition to American History, and a collection of 
facts of which the people among whom he lived could well 
be proud. Few towns can boast of as great and good a 
founder ; and I hope for the honor of the town, that 
something will be done, that the name of this man shall 
not cease to be heard by this or any coming generation. 
Let his name be handed down to posterity with the legends 
of the town. Let the children of future generations be 
gathered around the fireside to hear the details of what his 



30 

own eyes saw and his own ears heard. Let them hew 
from their own granite, a monument which shall tell, long 
after the hewers of it are gone, who it was that pros- 
trated the forests, and bade all civilized men welcome to 
his hospitable home. Let its inscription be simple, that 
children may read it, and remember that the foundation 
of society in that beautiful town was laid by a good, a 
virtuous, an industrious man, who lived and labored until 
more than eighty winters had passed over his head." 

We must now go back in our chronological reminiscences 
to that memorable period in which the struggle for our 
national independence commenced. The year 1775 begins 
a new epoch in our history, an epoch which developed a 
true sense of civil liberty and human rights, and awakened 
the courage and patriotism necessary to assert and defend 
them. Though this town is not signalized by battle scenes 
with the Indians or the British, yet the spirit of the revo- 
lutionary time stirred the hearts of the people and caused 
them to act their part in those trying scenes which gave 
birth to a new nation. 

On the 8th of May, 1775, Israel Morey and Nathaniel 
Rogers were chosen deputies to the convention to meet at 
Exeter on the 17th inst., and were instructed to " adopt 
and pursue such measures as may be judged most expe- 
dient to restore the rights of this and other colonies." 
The nature of this instruction can not be mistaken. Rights 
had been ignored and taken from the people, and they 
were determined to get them restored. No shilly shally 
hesitating policy was to be countenanced. The deputies 
were to adopt measures to restore the lost rights of this and 
other colonies. 

That the fire of patriotism was quickly kindled and 
burned brightly, is manifest from the following record, 
dated Nov. 23, 1775. The inhabitants of Orford, Pier- 
mont, Lyme, Dorchester, and Wentworth, who own real 



31 

estate of two hundred pounds value, were notified to meet 
at Orford to elect one person to represent them " in Gen- 
eral Congress to be held in Exeter, Dec. 21, of this year, 
to transact such business and pursue such measures as 
they may judge necessary for the public good. And in 
case there should be a recommendation from the Conti- 
nental Congress that the Colony assume government in any 
particular form which will require a House of Represen- 
tatives, that they resolve themselves into such a House, as 
the said Continental Congress shall recommend." 

" And it is resolved, that no person shall be allowed a 
seat in Congress, who shall, by himself or any person 
before said House, treat with liquor any electors with an 
apparent view of gaining their votes, or afterwards on that 
account." Israel Morey was elected the deputy. Here 
was manifested a determination to comply with the recom- 
mendation of the General Congress as to the form of gov- 
ernment, however loudly the British lion might roar and 
threaten hostilities. Here, too, was manifested a salutary 
fear of the influence of intoxicating drinks in perverting 
the minds of men, and suborning them to act contrary to 
strict integrity. Well would it have been if this demon 
had been thoroughly exorcised from every exercise of elec- 
tive franchise, and from all legislative bodies to this day. 

But the patriotism of the early occupants of this soil did 
not all evaporate in a town-meeting ; nor was it dissipated 
by passing resolutions and electing deputies to a conven- 
tion. Guns, powder, and lead were purchased, and scouts 
were employed " to make discovery of the enemy if any 
there were." At another meeting in 1776, Oct. 15, it was 
u voted to raise a tax of thirty-five pounds to purchase sixty 
weight of powder and one hundred and twenty weight of 
lead for a town stock." 

Often, in past years, have I looked upon the large old 
head stone in the burying ground, commemorating a sol- 



32 

dier of the Revolution, by the name of Jeremiah Post, who 
fell in the battle of Bennington. The terrible scenes of 
war, as drawn by imagination, were pictured in my mind, 
and I wondered at the courage and patriotism which led 
men thus to peril and sacrifice their lives. 

At a legal meeting, April 19, 1777, it was decided " to 
raise sixty pounds lawful money, to hire three men to 
enlist into the continental service to make up the town's 
proportion of forty-three men for three years." At another 
meeting in July, a committee was appointed " to hire 
scouts in conjunction with Pairlee, and provide provisions 
for them, and deal it out to them, — also to provide four 
men each night, and one each day, to watch the water 
craft and the streets." Morey was to be hired to pay these 
scouts and watchers ; and " the school-house on the parade 
to be a guard-house for them." 

The next year, 1778, the town voted " to adopt the 
Articles of Confederation and perpetual union, proposed 
by the Continental Congress." The traitorous doctrine of 
" state rights " of our day, which claims the right to abro- 
gate the most solemn political pledges and oaths, to break 
up the national compact, and secede from the union at 
will ; a doctrine which has involved us in the most relent- 
less and desolating war known in modern times, had not 
been broached in the days of our patriotic fathers. They 
felt that the national safety and welfare depended on a 
well cemented and perpetual union. 

Near the close of the year 1777, a move was made 
respecting the dismission of Rev. Mr. Noble from the min- 
istry in this town, and it was voted that in case he should 
relinquish his pastorate, he should receive forty-two pounds 
lawful money, over and above his regular salary. A com- 
mittee was appointed u to join with a committee of the 
church for the calling of a council " to carry this into 
effect. Mr. Noble came into the meeting and accepted the 



33 

terms proposed. The Rev. Peter Powers and the Rev. 
Wm. Conant and their delegates constituted the council, 
and Mr. Noble was dismissed December 30, 1777. It may- 
be noticed that the town moved in this matter, and also in 
giving a call, before any action by the church ; — a pro- 
ceeding which, according to our ecclesiastical polity, is 
irregular, as all power to do ecclesiastical acts, inviting a 
pastor, ordination, installation, and dismission is vested in 
the church itself. In the three succeeding years Mr. 
George Morey, Mr. Ripley, and Mr. Gaylord were the 
preachers, and the rate of compensation was nine pounds 
per day.. At the March meeting in 1779, a committee " was 
raised to consult with a committee of Fairlee, and agree 
on terms of union with this town in hiring preaching." 

In the next year Mr. Noah Miles was invited to settle 
in the gospel ministry ; his settlement to be two hundred 
pounds lawful money to be paid in wheat ; and that sum 
to be increased two pounds annually until it shall amount 
to eighty-six pounds. If the English pound was the same 
as it is now, the gift at starting, called a settlement, was 
about one thousand dollars, and the salary three hundred 
to be increased till it amounted to four hundred and 
thirty. Yery few ministers in country towns have experi- 
enced such liberality during the last fifty years. It does 
not appear that Mr. Miles accepted the invitation. 

In the following month, October 25, it was " voted to 
build a meeting-house somewhere nigh Major Ephraim 
Morey's dwelling house." Also, " to receive Fairlee into 
union with Orford in settling a minister," and farther, " to 
empower the selectmen to hire a Grammar school master 
for six months from November 1st." It is pleasing to see 
that the education of youth was regarded of highest impor- 
tance, next to the ministration of the Gospel. The com- 
mon school system which originated in New England, has 
been, in connection with its ministry, the chief instrumen- 

B 



34 

tality in making it what it is, ' decus et gloria patrice] from 
which the light of science and religion has been diffused 
far and wide. These have made New Hampshire with its 
sterile soil and rigorous climate one of the principal states 
for the exportation of liberally educated men and women. 
August 4, 1786, Mr. John Sawyer was invited to settle 
as pastor, — " the settlement to be six hundred and sixty- 
seven bushels of wheat at six shillings per bushel, his sal- 
ary to commence at two hundred and forty bushels of 
wheat, and to increase annually eight bushels until the 
expiration of twelve years." These proposals were 
accepted. He was ordained October 3, 1787. Three 
years later, viz., January 5, 1790, it was " voted to build 
a meeting-house at the corner of Samuel Phelps' field." 
The vote of the previous year not having been carried into 
effect. 

At the annual meeting in March following, it was " voted 
to lease the school lot on the river road for the term of 
nine hundred and ninety-nine years to Capt. John Mann, 
his heirs and assigns, at the rate of fifteen pounds per 
year, — the selectmen to make out the lease accordingly." 
This shows how that lot came into the possession of my 
father. 

At an adjourned meeting a few days after, it was voted 
to build a meeting-house forty feet by sixty, with posts 
eighteen feet, and a porch at each door, on the rise of 
ground by Lieut. Dame's. Messrs. Mann, Todd, Tillotson, 
Dame and Simpson were the committee to inspect the 
building of the house, and to proceed immediately to sell 
the pews to defray the expense. In succeeding years votes 
were passed to build a house of worship, all of them dif- 
fering as to the dimensions and precise location, though 
generally agreeing to place it on the plain near where Mr. 
Tillotson now lives. 

There a house was erected, as I well remember, but 



35 

never finished. It was taken down and placed on the 
height of land between the Connecticut and Baker's rivers, 
a most uncomfortable and unsuitable location, especially 
in the piercing cold and drifting snow of winter. There 
wore no sheds for the protection of horses, and no stoves 
within for the comfort of the people. Indeed for many- 
years after this, stoves, except such as were carried in. the 
hands of individuals, were luxuries in churches rarely to 
be found. I do not recollect ever to have seen one through 
the early years of my ministry. To be cold in the pulpit 
is bad enough, but to be destitute of animal and spiritual 
warmth in the pews is worse. The hardy people of those 
days willingly suffered from cold for the sake of partici- 
pating in the benefits of public worship. We have since 
learned that it is consistent with religion to unite bodily 
comfort with spiritual edification. In summer anc the 
milder part of autumn, we regarded it rather a pleasure 
to walk the three miles, on alternate Sabbaths, to the house 
of God on that breezy hill. From the year 1794, the meet- 
ings on the Sabbath were usually held one half of the time 
in this village, and one half in the east part of the town. 

Canada thistles, those most unwelcome visitors, began 
to infest the town, and in 1795 the selectmen were directed 
to prepare " a petition to the General Court to pass an act 
to prevent the growth of thistles in this State." I never 
heard what was the success of the petition, but I believe 
that neither the petition nor the doings of the Court have 
exterminated that pestilent weed ; and that in spite of 
legislation and careful husbandry it continues to grow and 
annoy. 

In 1799 the Rev. Wm. Forsyth was engaged to preach, 
and was offered four hundred dollars salary on condition, 
that if ordained, and " the town shall be unwilling to have 
him remain as their minister, it shall be discharged from 
him, and from paying him further salary." The provis- 



36 

ion for admission at the commencement of a pastorate 
which anticipates trouble before it comes, in contrariety 
to the Saviour's words, " Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
thereof," is not altogether a new invention in these, our 
days of progress. Mr. Forsyth was a true Scotchman, 
and whether the people were inclined to be chary of the 
sons of good old Scotia, I know not. Certain it is that we 
have much reason to hold them in high estimation. He 
was educated in the University of Edinburg ; was 
thoroughly acquainted with the classic languages, and 
sometimes quoted the Greek of a scripture passage in his 
sermons. He was an able preacher, — had passed the 
middle period of life, — was venerable in appearance ; — his 
hair was always powdered white as snow, and his whole 
bearing was dignified. I had good opportunities for know- 
ing him and receiving catechetical instruction from him, 
for my father's house was his home through his brief min- 
istry. 

In 1800, November 23, the town gave Mr. Sylvester 
Dana an invitation to the pastorate, and offered him four 
hundred dollars as a salary, and six hundred and sixty-six 
dollars and sixty-seven cents as a settlement. This was 
accepted, and he was ordained and instituted pastor of the 
town, May 10, 1801. In that office he continued twenty- 
one years. His dismission took place April 30, 1822. 
He was a good man, sound in doctrine, an earnest and 
affectionate preacher, faithful and conscientious in the 
performance of ministerial duty. 

The division of the town into two parishes, the eastern 
and western, had been agitated, and when Mr. Dana's 
pastoral relation to the town ceased, it was voted unani- 
mously, " that it is not expedient to divide the town into 
two parishes." For this decision the large number of one 
hundred and thirty-four votes were given. 

Immediately, however, a new church of twenty-eight 



37 

members was formed in this part of the town called the 
" West Church." It was organized on the day of the 
dismission of the pastor and by the same council, April 30', 
1822. Measures were soon taken to constitute " a perma- 
nent society for the support of the gospel on the river road 
in Orford and Fairlee." On the 30th of December follow- 
ing, it was unanimously voted to give Mr. Dana an invita- 
tion to become the pastor of the West Church, and he was 
installed February 19, 1823. He continued the pastor ten 
years and resigned January 1, 1833. During that period 
his labors were greatly blessed to the conversion of many 
of his flock ; — ninety-seven were added to the church ; 
fifty-eight of that number in one year. 

In the year 1813, an event occurred which is worthy of 
record, and should not pass into oblivion ; — an event 
which shows that God does mercifully interpose in answer 
to the prayers of his people. The spotted fever was exten- 
sively prevalent in the town, and new cases were occurring 
almost daily. 

Riding out one morning I came opposite a house in 
which an old man lived whose name was Fisher. He 
hailed me and came up saying that it was a solemn and 
alarming time with us, and asked if there ought not to be 
a^ day of fasting and prayer. I assented and promised to 
go immediately to the pastor and propose it, which I did. 
Wednesday of the following week was fixed upon for the 
duty, and announcement was made accordingly on the Sab- 
bath, the service to be in the east meeting-house. Being 
a licensed preacher, it was my lot to preach in the fore- 
noon and Mr. Dana in the afternoon. It was a peculiarly 
solemn day. Many were sick with that strange and often 
quickly fatal disease. It was not expected that the two 
aged deacons, Taintor and Niles, would live through the 
day. God heard and answered the earnest supplications 
of his people. The two deacons recovered, and those who 



38 

were sick were restored to health. From that day to this, 
a period of fifty-two years, there has not been a case of 
that fearful disease, to my knowledge, in this town. 

The Rev. James D. L. Farnsworth succeeded Mr. Dana 
in the pastoral office, and was ordained and installed Jan- 
uary 1, 1823. He was distinguished for sociability and 
facility of accommodating himself to all classes of people, 
and was abundant in pastoral visitation and labors. His 
ministry closed April 9, 1832. 

The Rev. Daniel Campbell was next invited to take the 
oversight of the flock, and was installed May 29, 1833. 
His ministry continued a little more than fourteen years, 
in which time eighty-three were added to the church. He 
was an energetic and faithful preacher, active in parochial 
labors, and a bright example of christian virtues. His 
health having become greatly impaired, he requested a 
dissolution of the pastoral relation, and was dismissed 
September 7, 1847. 

The Rev. Wm. Clarke succeeded him and was ordained 
and installed May 17, 1849. After a ministry of three 
years he relinquished his charge, and was dismissed agree- 
ably to his request, April 22, 1852, and became a Mission- 
ary of the American Board for Foreign Missions, and was 
stationed at Arabkir, in Eastern Turkey. His successor 
was Rev. Ira Case, who was ordained November 29, 1852. 
His dismission took place June 14, 1854. 

The Rev. Windsor A. Smith was his successor, and 
commenced his pastorate November 1, 1854. Being in ill 
health he resigned and was dismissed August 15, 1860, 
having had a ministry of six years. 

The present incumbent is the much esteemed Rev. 
Moses T. Runnels. 

After the dismission of Mr. Farnsworth, who was pastor 
of the town, the First or East Church was destitute of a 
pastor for eleven years, and was served by ministers em- 



39 

ployed for a longer or shorter time. Mr. Andrew B. Fos- 
ter was ordained and installed June 26, 1845. A small, 
neat parsonage house was built, connected with which 
were a few acres of land. His health failed, and at his 
request he was dismissed November 22, 1847. 

Rev. Jotham Sewall commenced his labors with that 
society in October, 1851, and was installed February 16, 
1853. His dismission took place in 1855. 

What I have said respecting churches and pastors has 
exclusive reference to those of the Congregational denom- 
ination. For about forty years the only church and society 
in the town was of that faith and order. About the year 
the Methodists began to hold meetings in the north- 
eastern part of the town, and after a while formed a church 
and built a small house of worship, which, as I think, was 
never completed. For a number of years their small com- 
munity flourished and gathered strength. 

For many years there were individuals of the Univer- 
salist persuasion, who, with their families usually attended 
public worship with the mass of the people and aided in 
its support. In about the year 1840, they erected a house 
of worship in this village, and commenced public religious 
services as a separate congregation. 

Among her sons, whom Orford has reared, who have 
reflected honor upon her, I may be allowed to mention 
two other of my brothers, the elder of whom was the Hon. 
Benning Mann, for many years a lawyer in the city of 
Hartford, Ct. He had been Judge of Tolland County 
Court, United States Marshal for Connecticut, Senator in 
the Legislature of the State, and successively Justice and 
Clerk of the Police Court of that city. At his death 
the Hartford Bar passed these resolutions : " The 
genial kindness, the unvarying sympathy, the sterling 
sense and the unbending integrity of our late venerable 
associate, who for many years has been connected with us 



40 

in the practice of our profession, will long be commemo- 
rated in the hearts of the Bar of this county. 

Resolved, That in the administration of the public 
trusts committed to his care, he discharged official duties 
with an honesty which has made his name proverbial, and 
has left a memory ever to be cherished in the respect and 
esteem of the community. 

Among the resolutions passed by the officers and mem- 
bers of the Police, were the following : 

" Resolved, That his unobtrusive goodness, his untiring 
usefulness, his equable disposition, his incorruptable integ- 
rity, and his unswerving fidelity to the right, shall embalm 
his memory in our hearts, and incite us to emulate his 
virtues. 

Resolved, That as an administrator of justice he was 
faithful and considerate, as an adviser and counsellor, reli- 
able and trustworthy, as a citizen, patriotic, as a man, 
honorable, as a neighbor, kind and courteous, and as a 
friend, ' true as steel.' " 

The other brother next older to myself was Rev. Cyrus 
Mann. He graduated at Dartmouth College, was Prin- 
cipal of Gilmanton Academy two years, was Tutor in the 
College five years, and was pastor of the Congregational 
church in Westminster, Mass., twenty-six years. An obit- 
uary article states concerning him : " By his personal efforts 
an Academy was founded and sustained in that place, 
which was of great service to the cause of education in 
that region, and which still exists as a monument to his 
name." " His memory dwells in the evangelical churches 
of Worcester County, (several of which he helped to 
found,) as one who preached the gospel with plainness, 
power and love, not fearing man, but only God." His 
ministry was signalized by numerous and powerful revi- 
vals. He died in 1859, aged seventy-three. 

Rev. John Wheeler, D. D., was reared here from his 



41 

youth. It was when he was in college, if I mistake not, 
that he became a subject of divine grace and commenced 
the life of a shining, useful Christian. He received his 
theological education at Andover, and was settled as 
pastor of the Congregational church in Windsor, Yt. 
He was a popular preacher, graceful in style and manner, 
and faithful in exhibiting divine truth. He was President 
of the University of Yermont for several years, and filled 
that office with much acceptance. His influence and 
qualifications contributed largely to the prosperity of the 
Institution. 

Hon. Leonard Wilcox, after receiving his collegiate 
education, read law with his father here. He became a 
judge in one of your courts of justice, and was for a short 
period a member of the United States Senate. All these 
have finished their course and have passed away from earth. 

Every loyal man is willing to do honor to our brave 
defenders who have periled their lives to save our country 
from the ruin attempted by traitors and rebels. Among 
those who constitute a bright catalogue of townsmen yet 
living, I maybe allowed to mention Gen. Gilman Marston, 
a practitioner of law, a wise and upright legislator who 
laid aside the business of his profession, took the sword 
and gallantly defended the cause of freedom, humanity 
and national life. 

Major Frederic Edgel, the Chief Marshal of the day, is 
another of the brave officers of our noble army, and has 
rendered important services in our late war, and also in 
the war with Mexico, — services by which he has well 
merited the promotion he has received. 

And now I leave it for you, fellow citizens, and for pos- 
terity to judge whether the good town of Orford has not 
just reason to be proud of such sons as these. This town 
has given a collegiate education to more than thirty young 
men who were born or reared here. 



42 

I have now taken a survey of the more important events 
of our dear native town, from its infancy to its mature 
growth of a hundred years. The Granite State has some 
gems in her civic diadem, and good old Orford is one of 
them. May it ever shine with undimmed brightness, 
reflecting honor on those noble men and women who ven- 
tured into the dark recess of its forests, whose well directed 
labors have given it so much to admire. 

We began these historic reminiscences in a solitary 
wilderness, among the lofty monarchs of the forest. We 
-end in the midst of a lovely landscape, adorned with 
highly cultivated and luxuriant fields, rewarding the 
industry of a happy people, and exhibiting the bountiful- 
ness of the Creator. We began in a hastily constructed 
log cabin with bark for its covering, unadorned by the 
skillful use of the carpenter's chisel and plane. We end 
in a smiling village, ornamented with tasteful and commo- 
dious dwellings, whose occupants want no good thing. 
We began without roads, — with crooked paths like an 
Indian trail, and bridgeless streams. We end with smooth 
highways through leveled hills and uplifted valleys. 

We commenced the journey of our fathers and mothers 
adventurously mounted on horseback or travelling on foot, 
advancing a few miles only in a day, lonely and weary, to 
a land they knew not. We end with the puffing, scream- 
ing engine, whirling its thundering train of cars almost 
with the speed of the frightened birds. We commenced 
with the pounded corn and the omnifarious potatoe for 
food, and beachnuts and wild berries for fruit. We end 
with rich gardens and fruitful orchards, showing a taste 
and skill in horticulture, floral culture and fruit growing 
which challenge competition. 

We commenced our century with no building for 
imparting the elements of education and for developing 
the powers of the youthful mind ; where the school-mis- 



43 

tress lays the foundation of future usefulness and honor- 
able distinction. The great teachers then were nature and 
God. We end amidst nourishing schools with the best 
text books ever prepared ; with an Academy soon to be 
filled, I hope, with earnest lovers of learning, and with a 
neighboring college which ought to have been located here. 
We began with no sanctuary but the solemn forest and the 
blue empyreal arch. We end with handsome church 
edifices, with faithful preachers of the gospel, the admin- 
istration of the divinely instituted ordinances, and the 
people called to the house of God by the mellow sound of 
the bell sending its echoes among the hills and mountains. 
We commenced in the quietness and the solemn still- 
ness of a vast wilderness, the extent of which the royal 
grantors of charters had never imagined. We close our 
centennial review at the termination of a gigantic civil 
war ; — the cessation of the uproar and carnage of mighty 
contending armies ; — the capture of defiant and almost 
impregnable fortifications and their restoration to the 
national government from which they were stolen. Thank 
God, the slaughter of our brave, patriotic fellow citizens 
on the battle field, and their murder by starvation in 
southern prisons have ceased. The deadly struggle for 
the preservation of national life and the vindication of gov- 
ernmental authority has ended in a God-given and glorious 
victory. To what an epoch have we come ! What a 
momentous crisis have we reached ! Never has the world 
seen its equal. Never have the precious interests of man- 
kind, civil and religious, present and future, been so 
imperilled, so staked, as on the issue of this unparalled 
contest. May its termination be followed by the breaking 
of every yoke of oppression, — the enjoyment of freedom 
by every robbed and helpless bondman, and the practical 
enforcement of the great self-evident truths, " that all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 



44 

with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." May the horrid 
barbarities which have marked the progress of the late 
conflict be succeeded by the beneficent reconstruction of 
the rebellious states, the establishment of schools, the 
planting of churches, the diffusion of all gospel truth, 
and the inauguration of that long looked for period in 
which universal good will and brotherhood shall pervade 
our land and the world. 

Let us, fellow citizens, imitate the virtues of our 
departed ancestors. Let us cherish an ardent love of our 
divinely favored country. Let us maintain, defend and 
diffuse those great political and religious truths, obedience 
to which constitutes true greatness. And when this 
memorable and delightful reunion shall be past, and we 
scatter to our homes, near and remote, may we so pass the 
remainder of life as to have a felicitous reunion in a 
brighter world. 



The following article was written by Rev. Cyrus Mann after 
careful investigation of the subject, and was printed in the 
Boston Recorder in 1858 : 

"Who was the original inventor of the steamboat? The 
credit of the original invention of the steamboat is commonly 
awarded to Robert Fulton; but it is believed that it belongs 
primarily and chiefly to a far more obscure individual. So 
far as is known, the first steamboat ever seen on the waters of 
America, was invented by Capt. Samuel Morey, of Orford, 
N. H. The astonishing sight of this man ascending Connect- 
icut river between that place and Fairlee, in a little boat just 
large enough to contain himself and the rude machinery con- 
nected with the steam-boiler, and a handful of wood for a 
fire, was witnessed by the writer in his boyhood, and by others 
who yet survive. This was as early as 1793, or earlier, and 



45 

before Fulton's name had been mentioned in connection with 
steam navigation. 

Morey had his mind set upon the steamboat and had actu- 
ally brought it into operation, although in a rude and imper- 
fect state at that period. He had corresponded with Professor 
Silliman, of New Haven, and been encouraged by that distin- 
guished patron of the arts and sciences. Many of the 
writings of this correspondence are still extant. Soon after a 
few successful trips in his boat on the river, Morey went with 
the model of it to New York, where he had frequent inter- 
views with Messrs. Fulton and Livingstone, to whom he 
exhibited and explained his invention. They advised to 
have the engine in the side or centre of the boat, instead of 
the bow or forepart to which it had been assigned by Morey. 
That they were highly pleased with what he had exhibited is 
manifest from the offer made of one hundred thousand dollars, 
if he would return home and make the alteration suggested, 
so as to operate favorably. They treated him with great 
respect and attention. Taking a friendly leave he returned 
to his distant residence to make the alteration. 

Having completed the work at considerable expense of time 
and study, and with the help of his brother Maj. Israel Morey, 
who aided in making the machinery, he repaired to New York, 
expecting the same cordiality which he had before experienced. 
But to his surprise he was treated with great coldness and 
neglect, and no further intercourse with him was desired. 
The secret of his invention had been fully acquired, and from 
subsequent developments it appeared that Fulton in the inter- 
val of Morey's absence, had planned and formed a boat accord- 
ing to the model shown him, and he now desired no further 
communication with the originator. He even went to Orford 
during the period in which the alteration was being made, to 
examine its progress and the prospect of success. 

In 1798, several years after Morey's boat had ascended the 
Connecticut river, the legislature of New York " passed an act 
investing Mr. Livingstone with the exclusive right and privi- 
lege of navigating all kinds of boats which might be propelled 



46 

by the force of fire or steam, on all the waters within the ter- 
ritory or jurisdiction of the state of New York." 

Subsequently, Mr. Livingstone " entered into a contract 
with Fulton, by which, among other things, it was agreed that 
a patent should be taken in the United States in Fulton's 
name." In 1802 or 3, Fulton came forward with an " experi- 
mental boat " for which he obtained a patent with the usual 
exclusive privileges. Thus it appears that there was ample 
time after his interviews with Morey for him to complete his 
schemes previous to their consummation. He now claimed to 
be the inventor of the steamboat. The patent could not be 
obtained "without Mr. Fulton's taking an oath that the 
improvement was wholly his." 

Does not this look like great unfairness towards Mr. Morey? 
Does it not almost irresistibly convey the idea that the paten- 
tee surreptitiously seized upon the invention and turned it to 
his own account, taking advantage of the quiet disposition and 
retired position of the real inventor ? In this light Morey ever 
after, to the day of his death, viewed the whole transaction. 
Living witnesses testify that he repeatedly "complained of 
Fulton for superseding him in obtaining a patent and stealing 
the honor and emolument of the invention." A gentleman of 
unimpeachable veracity, who was with Morey some of the last 
years and days of his life, asserts that he most bitterly crimi- 
nated Fulton for his ill treatment in secretly depriving him of 
his sacred rights and privileges. Why should the dying man 
have done this and persisted in it amidst the solemnities of his 
situation and the approaching realities of eternity, unless he 
knew that the truth was on his side ? He was a man of ver- 
acity, in whom his friends and acquaintances had entire confi- 
dence." 



Music by the Band. 
Prayer by Rev. Charles B. Dana. 



47 
ORIGINAL HYMN 



BY MISS MARY P. HOWARD. 



We are assembled here to-day 

Upon our native sod, 
Where long ago, o'er wild-wood paths, 

Our Father's footsteps trod. 

A hundred years are gone since they — 

'Mid dangers, care and toil — 
Their humble household alters raised 

Upon the Red Man's soil. 

Where stood for ages grand old woods, 

Waving in lordly pride, 
While 'neath their branches broad and green, 

Fair flowers bloomed and died. 

E'en while the woodman's axe is heard, 

With pleasure, day by day, 
Voices were sighing 'mong the pines — 

Ever a mournful lay. 

Here, in this pleasant, lovely vale, 

Sprang up a hardy race, 
With enterprise and energy, 

Well suited for their place. 

Though weary oft with saddened hearts, 

'Mid rugged paths they trod, 
Yet hopeful and with loving faith, 

Trusting their Fathers' God. 

E'er long, their labor brought reward — 

Kind heaven on them smiled — 
Soon fair and fruitful was the land, 

Which once had been so wild. 

Although our Fathers toiled for wealth, 

Yet nobler aims they sought, 
Which were to their prophetic eyes, 

With richer blessings fraught. 



48 

They had a high regard for Truth, 

And Intellectual Worth, 
While Mortal Beauty ever beamed 

Beside each happy hearth. 

Churches were built, with lofty spires, 
Pointing the way to heaven — 
The basis they for knowlege laid, 
Which time has never riven. 

We bless the mem'ry of our sires — 

Their resting-place is near — 
They've left a rich inheritance, 

For those who linger here. 

Dear to our hearts will ever be 

Our fair New England home ; 
Fondly our hearts to it will turn, 

Where'er our steps may roam. 

A kindly welcome to the friends, 

Whose homes are far away — 
Whose voices mingle with our own, 

In honor of this day. 

With gratitude our hearts we'll raise 

To Him who rules above, 
For all the mercies we enjoy — 

For all His tender love. 

Benediction. 

After the conclusion of the exercises the procession 
reformed and proceeded to a large and splendid Camp 
Pavillion, erected on the common, where tables were 
arranged for about fifteen hundred persons, which were 
soon filled. 

The assembly having been called to order by the Presi- 
dent and the guests seated, Rev. B. M. Tillotson, of Man- 
chester, was called upon and invoked a blessing. 



49 

All having partaken of the sumptuous dinner, the feast 
of reason was commenced. 

The President announced the following sentiment and 
called upon James B. Richardson, Esq., of Boston, to 
respond : 

" Our Centennial Day." 

Mr. Richardson responded by reciting the following 
poem : 

Nor yet of arms shall our verses swell, 
Nor of the battles where your brave sons fell ; 
And yet the tender Muse, passing so near, 
Would pause to drop a sjmipathetic tear, 
With those who moisten yet the hallowed grave, 
Of those in peace most gentle, in war most brave, 
Who for their Country in life's morning bled, 
And with patriot's glory lie in a soldier's bed. 
They rest in peace, their last long march is done ; 
The conflict is ended and the victory's won ; 
The nation's wealth and their country's fame, 
The State shall live to glorify their name. 

Not to the dead alone is tribute due, 
The State shall honor well the living too ; 
With pine and laurel from her granite plain, 
Will strew their pathway as they come home again. 
But how feeble are our lips to say 

The half the varied thoughts that fill our minds to-day ; 
What various feelings crowd the throbbing heart ; 
How often diverse tears unbidden start, 
Of joy, and sorrow, mingling as they fall, 
At the, paternal but now deserted hall ; 
Coming afar, what new emotion thrills, 
As once again we see our native hills ; 
Scenes of our youth unbidden crowd in view, 
To which long ago w T e bid a last adieu. 
Haunts of delight relit by memory's gleams, 
Unseen since years ago except in dreams. 
c 



50 

There stands the Church where first we knelt in praise, 

To learn to reverence Heaven's mysterious ways. 

And here the School-house where the little group, 

Came in at nine to practice " how to shoot ; " 

Whence came the College pedagogue, prim and sedate, 

And feasted winter long on the district's pies and cakes. 

Who thought to punish for sundry roguish prank, 

By seating us with pretty Ellen, Kate or Frank ! 

There the village store, where were nightly told 

The deeds of prowess, acts of valor bold, 

Of the Revolution, in which they bore a part, 

And fought again their battles on the hearth. 

There flows the placid Connecticut, least changed of all ; 

The scenes we left, which memory recalls. 

Fit emblem of the laws of God, fair river, 

Amidst all mutability, thou art unchanged forever. 

But dwelling on these scenes of memory's glory, 
The time runs on, the Muse delays her story. 

'Tis Autumn twilight, September's golden sun 
Declining westward, his daily course has run ; 
The parched fields with gathering dewdrops shine, 
And slender grass therewith their tops incline. 
A dweller now, in a distant clime, had come 
To see again the scenes of his childhood home ; 
And roaming, musing on the days long flown, 
By chance confronted an old church yard stone. 
It had stood, notched, moss-grown and sear, 

In memory of for the hundreth year. 

" A hundred years," the traveller said, 

In a playful mood, ' ' thou hast been with the dead ; 

Now tell me, Centennarian resting below, 

For thou knowest far more than the living, I know, 

Of the years and days of a century ago." 

He tapped on the stone, but receiving no sound 
Save a hollow echo, was turning around, 
When the clock struck twelve from the belfry near. 
That o'clock filled the cycle of the hundreth year. 
When a voice hailing him in as merry a tone 
As you could expect— from an old gray stone — 



51 



" Tarry," it said, " I pray you stay, 

With you I fain would go ; 
For to-morrow's my Centennial clay, 

And its one hundred years ago 
Since these fields or hills I've seen, 

And I should lose my way, 
For the spotted trees not one I see, 

They are gone this many a day. 
The very mountains themselves I ween, 

Are changed, as you must know, 
And hills are leveled and roads are cut, 

Since one hundred years ago. 

I knew them well, in yonder yard, 

Who came to clear this soil ; 
As stalwart and as honest men, 

As ever lived by toil. 
They found a wild but fruitful soil, 

With forests overlaid ; 
And air and sky as clear as ever 

To any eye displayed. 
They went to work in earnest, 

For substance not for show, 
And' planted here all you now see, 

One hundred years ago. 

'Twas Mann, he was my neighbor, 

Who first did settle here ; 
Soon came Pratt and Story, 

They also settled near. 
And I remember how they came, 

Their wealth, a wife and child, 
They cut and fought their lonely way, 

Through the forests deep and wild. 
They cut and ploughed and planted, 

And then the germ did sow, 
Of all they've reaped here, since 

One hundred years ago. 

There were Dame and Popes and Dayton, 

Who dwelt by the pine clad hill ; 
The memory of whose works shall live, 



52 



While water turns the mill. 
Marston and Sawyer and Rogers ; 

Then Howards not a few, 
Who were highest in their cap-it&l art, 

When their old hats were new ! 
There were men whose names were Mann, 

A manly race you know, 
These since, not less than those I knew, 

One hundred years ago. 

One Morey, captain he was called, 

Came early to these hills ; 
A sturdy and a generous man, 

Of rare inventive skill ; 
Whose whims I trow, by the youngsters now, 

Are the stock of many a joke ; 
But let their lives he as useful as his, 

And they may laugh at his mill of smoke. 
The pliant resistless power that moves 

The car, the vessel, the loom, the plow, 
Is the same that in his tea-kettle sung, 

Nearly one hundred years ago. 

Yonder stood the ancient church, 

With its Heavenward pointing spire, 
Where Noble, Sawyer and Dana preached, 

And lived the faith they sought to inspire. 
There were Wheeler, Simpson and Tillotson, 

And Kimball of medical skill, 
Who gave cheer to many a hearth, 

By the power of his powder and pill. 
Sargent and Freeman and Dame, 

At the sound of the enemy's gun, 
Exchanged, for the sword, their plows, 

As their sons ao-ain have done. 



Oh, they were a glorious race, 

Those men of former days ; 
Their lives, behold them in their works I 

And emulate while you praise. 
They left for you those treasures, 



53 

Better than gold or their lands ; 
The examples of their lives and faith, 
Outlasting the work of hands. 



Welcome ! ever may you welcome give, 

To those who love the right ; 
Ever may unity, peace and love, 

Your hearts and hands unite. 
The flowing years will glide away, 

A Century come and go, 
You to them as I to you, 

One hundred years from now." 

The voice ceased, the gray 

Of dawn, proclaimed the coming day. 

The rising sun sent up his crimson rays, 

Tinging the mountain tops with golden hue, 

Fringing the forest leaves with diamonds of the dew. 

Aroused by sounds of other travelers near, 

Returning hither on their Centennial year, 

He seeks the road, meets the gathering throng 

Of friends and kindred once again at home. 

On every side fond greetings meet his ears, 

In joy too great for anything but tears ; 

Father and son again stand face to face ; 

Mother and daughter clasped in close embrace ; 

Brother and sister by nature's insight know 

The kindred form, unseen since jears ago ; 

Unchanged and loving as they loved at first, 

Bound still together for the best or worst. 

How joyfully, swiftly, the time glides away, 

But the sands of the glass run golden to-day. 

On our absent friends may good fortune attend, 

And the blessings of Him on whom all blessings depend. 



Orford, our mother, we come at thy bidding, 
Our treasures, our hearts all to thee bringing ; 
From the sea or the land wherever we roam, 
Turn we fondly to thee, our infancy's homeo 



54 

The next sentiment announced was : 

" Our School-mates of the past." 

Responded to by Timothy M. Dewey, Esq., of Westfield, 
Mass., as follows : 

Mr. President — "School-mates of the past" — Friends 
of the present : Grateful to those of you who have duti- 
fully remained at home and laid this magic scene, and 
equally grateful for the invitation to be present ; happy 
too to be with you here to-day — here above all other 
places in the world, — by the side of the beautiful river 
whose silver thread, shimmering and sparkling away into 
the dreamy south, caught the earliest visions of my child- 
hood ; here under the battlements of yonder mountain 
which standing out so boldly into the interval, was the 
constant wonder of my youth, and whose serrated outline 
trending away into illimitable space, formed the extreme 
southern boundary of my child-world ; here where the 
joyful shout and ringing laugh echoed back and forth from 
hill to hill among the school-mates of the past ; here, too, 
within view of the old familiar burying ground where rest 
the remains of so many, dear to ns all ; happy, too, in 
meeting so many, though changed, still familiar faces ; it 
will be exceedingly gratifying to me if I may be able to 
speak a few words which shall contribute to the general 
enjoyment of the occasion. After partaking of a repast 
so more than regal, so well arranged, so rich and beautiful 
in every way, that I don't believe it can be equalled again 
here or elsewhere, I ought to be able to make a speech in 
some degree commensurate therewith. 

The sentiment just read, starts into active life a thous- 
and fancies, and recalls so many pleasant memories of the 
past, that it seems almost impossible to select from such 
profuse flowering, any single topic to present for your con- 
sideration ; and I am in very much the same predicament 
of the young man who went to New York and returned 



55 

with the report, that " there were so many ' housen ' he 
couldn't see the city at all I" 

The mountain, river and hill are still the same ; all else 
how changed ! 

" The old school house is changed, dear Tom, 

The benches are replaced 
By new ones just like those, dear Tom, 

Our pen-knives had defaced. 
The same old tricks are in the wall, 

The bell swings too and fro, 
The music's just the same, dear Tom, 

'Twas thirty years ago. 

The river's running just the same, 

The willows on its side 
Are larger than they were, dear Tom, 

The stream appears less wide, 
The grape-vine swing is ruined now, 

Where once we played the beau, 
And swung our sweet-hearts, pretty girls, 

Near forty years ago." 

Of the school-mates of the decade of 1820-1830, who 
were more especially my own, but few, I suppose, are 
present. Those of later years are probably more fully 
represented. In every familiar face around me I read the 
record of some incident of the past, which constitutes a 
link in the golden chain of memories which God has 
caused to be wrought by nature, to bind together the fel- 
lowship of his children. 

I look upon one face and immediately there stands forth 
from the dim obscurity of gathering years, the form of 
Master John Batchelder. 

11 A man severe he was, and stern to view, 
I knew him well, and every truant knew, 
Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face." 

I think Goldsmith must have had him in view when he 
wrote that beautiful poem. * 



56 

I look on other faces and am reminded of Masters Jared 
Palmer, Dr. James Haselton, Alvan Grimes, Col. Rogers, 
Joseph L. Richardson, Daniel Dayton, Sparhawk, Durhee, 
and others, and we must not forget to embrace Mistress 
Stebbins in our list, in whose school-room we were 
required to stand guard during all the thunder storms of 
the season. 

I recall a host of other minor incidents connected with 
our school exercises, but being of a local character I must 
let them rest. I can hardly forbear introducing to my com- 
rades in the old north district, Miss Mehitable Simpson, 
whom we called " Hitty," and who said that " if her father 
hadn't married his present wife he'd been worth sixteen 
dollars ; and that he never ivould have married her if his 
first wife hadn't died." 

I see still others who remind me of our evening spelling 
schools, and the exciting operations of " choosing sides," 
and the sly notes of admiration that passed, on slate and 
paper, under the benches ; of our theatricals, where our 
rude efforts must have disturbed the ashes of Garrick and 
Shakspeare in their long repose. 

I am thus reminded of the great, and constantly increas- 
ing progress in all of the educational interests of this 
country, — our Normal, Naval and Agricultural schools, 
and various other institutions of learning which now exist 
and have been mainly introduced since our school days, 
but to the consideration of which, time and occasion are 
both opposed. 

I turn again, and meet the friendly look of the success- 
ful business man, our most studious schoolmate, who has 
probably bought and sold more lumber than has grown in 
this town since the sound of the axe first echoed through 
its forests, and by whom I am reminded of the time when, 
by the authority of the certificate of Rev. James D. Farns- 
worth and others, the baton of the teacher first passed into 



57 

my hand ; and also of our grand old Mt. Cube, and the 
winds that roar upon its summit and whistle around its 
base ; of Capt. Aaron Mann and his wonderful wind stories. 
I will venture one of them as 'twas told to me. Having 
occasion to board a new barn, and the boards being rather 
green, he tacked them on, as was customary, for shrinking, 
before the final fastening, and retired to his bed, always 
sweet to the laboring man. During the night there arose, 
or rather descended one of those mountain winds, and 
on viewing his barn in the morning, he found the nails all 
driven " spang in to the head." I turn yet again and see 
one of our number who struck "fat" instead of " ile," 
and fancy myself taking a lesson in the " fife and drum 
business," and then comes the old " May training " — the 
old Flood wood company and its Capt. Newell, who, for- 
getting the word of command, asked his company " why 

in they couldn't haw as they did in the morning !" 

And then of Capt. Stevens and the famous Court-martial 
of our old friend Nat. Palmer. It was generally conceded 
and even by Palmer himself, that he was very plain look- 
ing, and the Captain not having the pleasure of his acquain- 
tance, ordered him under arrest, and he was tried on the 
charge of " making up faces at the captain." Upon the 
trial he was requested to " make up as bad a face as he' 
could," which he did, and was at once discharged on the 
ground that " he looked better than he did before." 

I can hardly allow the occasion to pass without a word 
in memory of Nathaniel Palmer, one of Or ford's brightest 
sons. He spent his obscure boyhood beneath the shades 
of Dorchester Mountain, but acquiring more than an ordi- 
nary education, he soon became the successful teacher, 
the fluent speaker, the profound law student, the humor- 
ous, witty, faithful and true friend and companion. He 
was attacked by the insidious disease of consumption, and 
ere his prime of usefulness was reached — passed away. 



58 

Of the century, the closing boundary of which we meet 
this day to define and commemorate, but few of us have 
seen more than the latter half, none of us probably, the 
whole, the oldest person present, Capt. Gage, being ninety- 
one years old. But still we have already declined " in 
the down-hill of life " so as to be able to speak of and 
wonder at the changes wrought even in our day, in 
almost every department of enterprise and society. 

Since we have lived, Daniel Webster has passed 
through his prime, astonishing the world with his intel- 
lectual powers. Henry Clay, the large-hearted advocate 
of the American Republic, and the eloquent champion of 
Grecian Independence, has spoken, and half the world 
stood still to listen. Edward Everett, the consummate 
flower of classic eloquence, the great American scholar of 
modern times, has come and gone. Rufus Choate, too, 
has risen like the flashing meteor upon the world, and, 
culminating in dazzling brightness to the utmost reach of 
oratorical splendor, has gone " up higher." Since John 
Mann and Jonathan Sawyer first wielded their axes in this 
town, the war of the Revolution has been fought, and the 
right of our people to govern themselves fully maintained. 
Warren, Prescott, and scores of others, noble souls, have 
fought and bled and died. The war of 1812 has con- 
firmed that right. The Shay's and the Dorr rebellions are 
only remembered for their insignificance. The Avar with 
Mexico, too, with all its wrongs, has become a part of our 
history during this period, and last and greatest of all, the 
most unwarrantable rebellion of 1861, and where is the 
pen to do justice its history. 

" A hundred years, and who have lived and died 
In all thy borders in that round of years ? 
The rude forefathers : men all true and tried, 
From earth have passed. 'Mid doubts and fears, 
The learned and honored, gray as holy seers, 
Have gone their way,— their venerable forms, 



59 

Amid a thousand fancies live as yet, 
And must forever live." 

But, Mr. President, I must hasten to a close. 

" Our memorial song is ended, our memorial day soon done, 
Soon amid the falling shadows we and it must journey on, 
On the troubled sea before us, all our hopes and all our fears, 
We again go down to venture for another hundred years. 

Farewell mountain, hills and waters, like the vapors ye must 

fade, 
We shall come again — one morning, when all history is made, 
We shall see the roll of honor, 'tis for crowns and kingdoms 

won, 
When the Lord of all the Centuries tells His little ones ■ well 

done.' " 
The President then read the sentiment which follows : 
" Orford, our dear old home ; while all things else change 
her hills and her mountains remain the same, and our eyes 
are this day delighted with the beauty and grandeur of 
her natural scenery as our fathers were one hundred years 
ago." 

Eev. B. M. Tillotson, of Manchester, being called upon, 
after some playful remarks about entering into competi- 
tion with knives and forks and dishes, most eloquently 
responded as follows : 

Mr. President : I am happy to be present here to-day, 
and on this occasion. I am thrice happy to meet so many 
of the native born of this good old town. There is a sort 
of fellow feeling existing among those born in contiguous 
neighborhoods, and a strong tie of sympathy springing from 
identity of local origin, made stronger by all the forces of 
early associations. These ties and associations conspire 
to bind together this vast assembly to-day. The cords of 
mutual sympathy that make us one here to-day, run back 
to our childhood, and are stronger than " hooks of steel." 
We feel the bond of union. We acknowledge its potency 
over the soul. 



60 

This is a sort of family meeting, and the separated sons 
and daughters come back and gather around the old 
hearth-stone to revel for a brief time in the brighter mem- 
ories of the past, compare that past with the present, and 
perhaps glance at the future. So this is eminently a social 
day, and in a social way let its golden hours and opportu- 
nities be improved and enjoyed. 

The sentiment, Mr. President, to which you ask me to 
respond, speaks of this as our dear old Home* It is dear, 
dear to all who remember this as their birth place, even 
though long ago they went forth " in other lands to 
dwell ; " dear, as the place of our nativity ; dear, because 
of the associations of youth ; dear, as the home of our 
fathers, and where many of our kindred dwell ; dear, 
because here sleeps kindred dust, and here are the graves 
of the beloved who have finished their course on earth. 
A thousand ties bind us to this goodly town, and will con- 
tinue to draw us hither while life, and thought, and being 
shall last. We tread these old familiar places with a 
thrill of delight. Our hearts grow lighter, and our step 
more elastic, as we approach these scenes of our youth. 
The romance of early days comes back again at the sight 
of what our eyes first beheld of this beautiful world. 
The power and the charm still remain. We can still sing, 
with the spirit and the understanding also, — 

11 How dear to our hearts are the scenes of our childhood ! 

Each streamlet, each hillock, each mountain and dell ; 
The plain and the meadow, the pasture and wildwood, 

And e'en the rude bucket that hangs in the well." 

Yes, sir, dear, inexpressibly dear, is the consecrated 
place. We are almost persuaded to " put off our shoes 
from our feet," and call this " holy ground " whereon we 
tread ! 

' ■ Here we learned to lisp a mother's name, 
The first beloved in life, the last forgot, 
And here we spent our frolic youth." 



61 

Indeed is this our dear old home ; dear in our earlier 
years, dear, and forever dear to us all. 

The sentiment alludes, also, to the changes that have 
occurred in all else save the hills and mountains that sur- 
round us. The truth of this allusion casts the only 
shadow that rests upon us to-day. The voices of the past 
preach to us the solemn lessons of change — " that earthly 
things are mist — that our joys are but dreams, and our 
hopes are like shadows in the Summer cloud." Phantoms 
of the past rise up and move before us here, like a shifting 
panorama, and then vanish away, leaving only sad memo- 
ries behind them. We, who left our homes years ago, 
have, from time to time, been summoned back again to 
join the funeral march of some loved one to the grave ! 
We visit those once happy homes, now — alas ! how 
changed ! Vacant places speak with a silent eloquence 
the heart cannot resist, and dark shadows gather that can 
be dispersed only by the Christian's faith in Immortality ! 
The fire-side groups — the home circle — the bright band of 
youthful associates that often met to chase the golden 
hours that sped on viewless wings away, — alas ! alas ! how 
changed ! In some instances they are scattered and alto- 
gether gone, and to-day they seem to us like " the baseless 
fabric of a vision, leaving not a wreck behind." 

But we turn from these visions of the past, and look 
upon our native hills and mountains, and these all remain 
the same. Nature, unchanged, speaks in familiar lan- 
guage. With a " voice of gladness, and a smile and 
eloquence of beauty," she welcomes us all home again on 
this Centennial day. She greets us as she greeted our 
fathers one hundred years ago. The same hills and moun- 
tains, meadows, lakes and rivers are ours now, that were 
theirs a century ago. 

I always admired nature's scenery in this grand old 
town. It was highly commendable to the taste and judge- 



62 

ment of our fathers that they pitched their tents in this 
beautiful spot in nature. No lovelier place could they 
have found, no scenery more inviting. What can tran- 
scend, in beauty, this broad interval, stretching along the 
western boundary of the town, with the rising back-ground 
terraced with more than the skill of art, reaching to the 
foot of the hills and mountains that lift themselves grandly 
in the distance on the East ; and Fairlee mountain, rugged 
and rocky on the West, with the most beautiful of all run- 
ning rivers rolling gracefully between ! A Paradise in 
Nature ! 

There stands Mt. Cube, in the easterly portion of the 
town, a huge Granite pile, just as our fathers saw it a hun- 
dred years ago. Every thing around its base is changed. 
Forests have melted away before the woodman's axe, the 
ploughman's whistle is heard in the cultivated fields, and 
the song of the harvest home ; but the old bald mountain 
stands unchanged. I used to climb that mountain once a 
year, and drink in ineffable delight from the surrounding 
scenery. When the rough winds blew, on that highest 
mountain peak " I've laid me flat along," and as u gust 
followed gust more furiously, threatening to sweep me o'er 
the brink," lost in wonder and admiration, have felt the 
truth of the words of the familiar couplet : 

* ' The land torrent and the whirlwind's roar, 
But bound me to my native mountain more." 

And there stands, nearer the central part of the town, 
Sunday mountain, of traditionary interest to me, because 
of an old legend that was told me in childhood. My 
mother told me the story when she wished to convince me 
of the importance of going to meeting every Sunday. 

The legend was something like the following : A man, 
on Sunday, instead of attending church, as all good people 
were expected to do, wandered away in the woods, and 
finally lost himself upon the mountain, where the bears 



63 

caught him, and tore him in pieces, — a solemn warning 
against all Sunday roving, and in favor of church going 
on the Lord's day ! From that circumstance the moun- 
tain received its name, and was ever after called Sunday 
Mountain. 

I have been thinking, Mr. President, that if, in these 
latter days, all who do not attend church on Sunday 
should be caught by the bears, the great query might be, 
where in the wide world could bears enough be found to 
catch all the delinquent people ! 

In the northerly portion of the town another mountain 
looks down upon us as of old. We called it " Grave-stone 
Mountain." This name was applied to it because of the 
large quantities of stone from which grave-stones were 
made, which was taken from its side. I remember well, 
when, as the evening shadows fell upon that mountain, 
and gathered around the dark cavern in its side, I imag- 
ined that was the abode of the " Evil One," and that his 
majesty sometimes sallied forth to take a survey of his 
surroundings, and especially to note the localities of the 
many grave-stones that were taken from under his ever 
watchful eye. It was a perplexing question with me, upon 
how many of those tomb-stones that marked the resting 
places of the dead, could he write — " This one belongs to 
me?" But those youthful fancies long since passed away. 
Other and maturer thoughts and views have taken their 
places. 

Then there is Fairlee mountain on the west, as bold and 
abrupt as when nature gave it birth, not a hundred years, 
but countless centuries ago. I remember when I thought 
that mountain was the most rugged and bold and lofty of 
any in the world, and that Connecticut river was the 
largest river in the world. They seemed so to my young 
and inexperienced vision. That river, if not the largest, 
is certainly as beautiful as any that flows on to the sea. 



64 

But time will not allow me to say more of what nature 
has done for this place of our birth ; this chosen spot of 
our fathers' a century ago, and where they lived and died. 
How much the sublime and grand scenery of our town 
had to do in forming the character of her children, we 
will not pretend to say. But we all know that mountain 
scenery tends to develop and strengthen the manly virtues 
of the people. Manly strength and nerve, unyielding 
integrity and the stern virtues are usually found and 
nourished amid nature's sublime and rugged forms. 

We have an illustration of this truth here to-clay ; here 
is one who has displayed the virtues of patriotism and 
courage in an eminent degree ; one whom bullets could 
not kill, else he would have been killed several times 
during the late war ; one who has faced danger and looked 
death in the face, unmoved, at his country's call. I allude 
to Gen. Marston, the President of the Day. He was born 
and reared under the shadows of Mt. Cube, and how much 
of the granite in his character was derived from that old 
mountain he himself cannot tell. 

What this splendid scenery has done in giving form and 
comeliness to the sons and daughters, especially the daugh- 
ters, of this town I will not attempt to say. But it is 
proverbial that beauty is communicative. Nature stamps 
her beauty on all around. 

Perhaps I can indicate my meaning. Coming up in the 
cars yesterday, a stranger from the West accosted me with 
the remark of inquiry — " What is going on at Orford, for 
I find that nearly all the passengers aboard are thither 
bound ? " I replied — " To-morrow is the Centennial day 
and the people are going home to celebrate the anniver- 
sary." He continued — " Orford — Orford, what sort of a 
place is Orford?" "One of the most beautiful towns 
upon which the sun ever shone in any land," was my 
reply. " I might have inferred that," said he, "judging 



65 

from the looks of the ladies ! " I commended both his 
discrimination and judgment. " But what of the men ?• " 
said I, pointing to the Hon. Mr. Wheeler, now of New 
York, remarking that he was a fair specimen of our side 
of the house. " Then I can say no less of them than I 
said of the ladies," he added. I was altogether satisfied, 
and not a little gratified with this stranger and his 
remarks. 

•Mr. President — a most beautiful picture was painted, 
and framed, and hung up in one of the chambers of mem- 
ory when I was a boy, that I have carried with me in all 
my wanderings since, and have nowhere found its equal. 
That picture embodies the mountains and hills, the mead- 
ows, lakes, and rivers ; in short, the entire natural scenery 
that gives such surpassing beauty to this home of our birth, 
making it one of the most attractive spots on earth. I 
have sometimes thought, that, if our first parents could 
have been placed here, instead of in the old " Garden of 
Eden," no temptation could have led them into transgres- 
sion on pain and penalty of ejection from such a Paradise. 
The words of the poet, with a little variation, come, with 
such aptness and force, to my mind, that I must repeat 
them. Born in this goodly town, — 

" Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said, 
This is my ow r n, my native town ! 
Whose heart hath ne 1 er within him burned, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 
From wandering on some distant strand ? " 

"If such there be, go mark him well" — but do not 
write his eulogy, for he deserves no eulogy. Let his very 
name be forgotten forever from among the sons and daugh- 
ters of Orford. 

I expect to see no hills and mountains so charmingly 
beautiful as these until I behold the ever lasting hills rising 

D 



66 

from the ever green plains, trod by the shining feet of 
angels, beyond the River. 

I expect to see no river like that along which I so often 
strayed in childhood, and bathed in its limpid waters, until 
I behold the tk River of Life," with its banks of unfading 
flowers, glistening amid immortal fields. 

I have ever cherished the pleasing anticipation, and have 
not relinquished it yet, that when the battle of life shall 
have been fought and its work done, and the evening of 
retirement shall have come — the evening of reflection and 
repose ; I shall return here at last, that the same scenes 
may fade upon my dying eyes, that so delighted me, and 
enkindled the enthusiasm of my youth. 

I close with the following sentiment : 

Our native town — Beautiful for situation — our joy and 
our pride this day ; — let her children multiply, and may 
prosperity attend them wherever they may go. 

The next sentiment announced was : 

" Our Fathers. He who regards not the memory and 
character of his ancesters, deserves to be forgotten by 
posterity." 

John T. Dame, Esq., of Clinton, Mass., was called upon 
and responded as follows : 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : The noble sen- 
timent to which your kindness has invited me to respond, 
requires no illustration at my hands. The duty of filial 
respect and reverence is universally acknowledged, it is 
co-existant with humanity, it was enjoined in that early 
code promulgated amid the thunder and lightnings of 
Sinai, by the Creator himself, and length of days was the 
promised reward of a due observance of its precepts. 
The lapse of centuries and the progress of the race in 
civilization and refinement, have not impaired the obliga- 
tions of this Statute ; it still remains unrepealed, in all its* 



67 

original force and power, and we who enjoy the full 
meridian of the latter part of the nineteeth century, owe 
our tribute of respect and reverence to the memory of our 
fathers, as such, riot less than those early inhabitants living 
in the dawn of the Mosaic dispensation. If this duty was 
so imperatively enjoined and so rigidly enforced in the 
case of that stiff-necked and rebellious people, the old 
Jews, how great are our obligations in this respect, who 
have such a noble ancestry, and possess as our patrimony, 
their free gift, the noblest country, the freest institutions, 
and the best government to be found upon the broad 
earth. 

Our fathers were a noble race of men ; in them were 
united all the substantial virtues requisite to the establish- 
ment of a powerful, prosperous and enlightened nation. 
They laid their foundations broad, deep, and firm ; their 
materials were solid, substantial and enduring ; and their 
workmanship was thorough, finished, and complete. 
Hence the corroding hand of time finds no blemish in the 
noble edifice erected by them ; it still survives, firm and 
steadfast, amid the fiercest storms and tempests the world 
has ever known. The private life of our fathers was a no 
less speaking illustration of their many excellencies and 
virtues. While they practised that industry and economy 
indispensable to the condition of all pioneer settlers in a 
new country, they added a wise forecast and persevering 
determination which almost invariably ensured a generous 
competency. They tempered stern Puritanism with a 
liberality, tolerant of the opinions of others, and a life of 
knowledge and generous culture which placed the school- 
house, college and church side by side. With such an 
ancestry, who by such labors and sacrifices have left us so 
rich a legacy, it is specially incumbent upon us, their 
descendants, to honor their memories. 

It is for this purpose, I presume, that our mother Orford 



68 

has summoned home all her absent children, to unite with 
those remaining upon the old Homestead, in celebrating 
this, her first centennial anniversary. The primary object 
of this large gathering of the sons and daughters of 
Orford, I suppose to be, to pass in review some of the 
more prominent events in her history which have tran- 
spired during the cycle which has passed, and thus to 
increase and deepen our feelings of respect and reverence 
for the memories of our ancestors, the actors in those 
scenes. 

The historical address has given so full and elaborate an 
account of the earliest settlers, and of the more prominent 
events in the history of the town, that I shall confine my- 
self during the short time allotted to me to matters and 
reminiscences which relate more particularly to my own 
immediate ancestors. The first of my ancestors who made 
Orford their home, were about five years subsequent to Mr. 
Mann. A few settlers had preceded them ; a very slight 
impression only had been made upon the howling wilder- 
ness, and their journey up was directed by marked trees, 
the females on horseback and the males on foot. Their 
capital stock consisted of strong bodies, a resolute will, 
sound principles, good common sense and a readiness to 
adapt themselves to any employment or circumstances 
which the occasion demanded. 

In their case, as in that of all others where such capital 
has been relied on, failure was impossible, and a respect- 
able position in society and a pecuniary competency was 
secured. They were ardent patriots in the times of the 
revolution, and embarked heartily in the service of their 
beloved country. The call of that country found my 
grandfather at church on the Sabbath, whither he had gone 
with his wife and child, on horseback. He at once 
responded to the call and set out on his long and toilsome 
march to join the expedition under Montgomery against 



69 

Quebec, leaving wife, child and horse to get home as they 
could, and that home to take care of itself. He also par- 
ticipated in most of the military operations at the north 
during the war. He was the mason, brick-maker, and 
shoe-maker for his portion of the town, as well as an 
extensive farmer, for a great number of years, and was 
equally successful in all avocations. 

My father was a practicing physician here for nearly 
twenty years, and it was his lot to be in practice during 
the prevalence of that fatal epidemic, the spotted fever, 
mentioned in the historical address. As was there stated, 
in the early stages of this epidemic, every case attended 
by him as well as by other physicians, terminated fatally, 
and a general feeling of alarm every where prevailed. At 
length my grandmother was struck down with the terrible 
malady, the prescribed course of treatment was adopted 
and with the same effect. The most eminent counsel was 
called, but he was no wiser than his less noted professional 
brother ; his skill was equally at fault, when my father 
says, " the patient is my mother and she must die under 
the present course of treatment. I shall therefore take 
the responsibility of resorting to such remedies as my 
judgement tells me may be beneficial in the case, although 
I have no medical authority for such practice." The 
experiment was made and with complete success. My 
grandmother recovered, as well as the deacons spoken of 
by Mr. Mann, also patients of his, and every other person 
to whom he was called during the prevalence of the dis- 
ease. Whether the remedies which my father was led to 
adopt on this occasion had any connection with the observ- 
ance of the day of fasting and prayer, I shall not pretend 
to determine, but they were nearly concurrent in point of 
time. It is a little remarkable that the address, after 
giving an account of this terrible epidemic and its won- 
derful suspension immediately after the observance of the 



70 

day of fasting and prayer, should fail to make any mem- 
tion of the successful efforts of my father in the treatment 
of the disease. I claim for him the lion or of the discovery 
and successful application of the remedy by which the 
ravages of this frightful malady were stayed, and many 
valuable lives saved to themselves and the community. 

Many other incidents and reminiscences of my own 
ancestors, as well as other early settlers not referred to in 
the address, and equally worthy of remembrance on this 
occasion, might be related, but I forbear, and will close 
with the following sentiment : 

The early settlers of Orford. While we venerate their 
memories, let us emulate their virtues. 

The next sentiment in order was : 

" The town of Orford ; patriotic and steadfast, so may 
it ever continue." 

Eloquently responded to by Rev. Charles B. Dana, of 
Port Gibson, Mississippi. 

" The Common Schools of Orford ; may they ever be 
such as to encircle her name with a halo of Glory." 

Yery appropriately responded to by Mr. A. B. Palmer, 
of Orford. 

" Our Sabbath Schools ; moulding the plastic minds of 
our youth, so that by divine aid they may become vassels 
of honor in the christian church." 

Responded to by Rev. M. T. Runnells. 

" New England in her relations to other parts of this 
country, and Foreign countries." 

It was expected that Rev. D. C. Blood, of Masselon, 
Ohio, would respond to this sentiment, but he was pre- 
vented by unforseen circumstances from being present. 

" The Common School system as exemplified in our 
excellent schools. The watch-tower of our liberties ; let 
that be flourishing and our country is safe." 



71 

Responded toby E. P. Wheeler, Esq., of New York 3 as 
follows : 

It was no small honor, Mr. President, that was shown to 
many of us, who are neither natives nor residents of 
Orford, when we were invited to be present on this joyous 
occasion. For my own part, I can assign no good reason 
for my having received such an invitation, except that like 
so many I see around me, I received part of my education 
in your Academy. I amnot going to indulge in remin- 
iscences of that goodly building — now, I am sorry to say, 
untenanted. The younger of you remember too well to 
need any reminder, its first principal, Mr. Stevens, and 
the warm hearted and enthusiastic Hitchcock, who taught 
better with stammering lips, than most men can with 
unimpeded tongue. And even the older have not, I am 
sure, forgotten the Academy boys. I trust it is not only 
our mischief that they remember. 

We are not in a critical mood to-day. And yet I can- 
not help adverting to the expression we have heard from 
so many — " Old Orford." Your toasts speak of " Old 
Orford ; " your speakers unite to call this beautiful village 
"old." In the cathedrals of England, the sexton, who 
with glib tongue shows you through the long drawn aisles, 
and amid the monuments and altar-tombs of the departed ; 
and who waits at the door for the inevitable shilling when 
you have completed your visit, would say in one part of 
the building — " This is old ; this was built in the time of 
King John or King Edward." And in another part, for 
those massive structures have grown century after century, 
like the pines of your own forest, — " This is quite new ; 
this was built but two hundred or three hundred years 
ago." And so I say on this first centennial anniversary — 

Young Orford. " That which decayeth and waxeth old is 
ready to vanish away." But a better fate is, I trust, in 
store for you. You are yet in the vigor of youth. No- 



72 

man respects the past more than I ; it is the chief useful- 
ness of such celebrations as this, that they bind the past 
and the present together, and temper our haste and ardor 
with the stability of history. But am I rash in saying that 
the young men, to whom, under God, the welfare of our 
country for the next thirty years is entrusted, are as active, 
as vigorous, as trusty, as their sires who cut down the for- 
ests of this valley and built these fair cottages, these 
schools, these spires pointing heavenward ? And sure I 
am that no one who looks about him will assert that the 
women of to-day are not as lovely, as faithful and as true as 
their grandmothers of a century ago. Therefore I say it 
again, it is Young 1 Orford that I love and cherish — young 
still, though some of her sons have grown old, and some 
departed to the country of eternal youth. 

You have well spoken of Common Schools as the light- 
house which is to illumine our track over the ocean of the 
future. In most other countries authority has been 
grasped by the few. They have feared the people and 
striven sedulously to keep power from them. Our fathers 
thought more wisely. They felt that not only properly 
but persons should be protected ; that every man, however 
humble, had an interest in the welfare of the state, and 
should have a share in its guidance ; and they established 
a popular government. But they saw as clearly, that 
this must be based on intelligence and virtue among the 
people ; that ignorance would lead to vice, and would 
plunge itself and the commonwealth headlong into destruc- 
tion, and they established a new system. Other countries 
have educated the rich, the powerful, the talented. Uni- 
versities have been founded elsewhere, and within their 
walls eminent scholars and great statesmen have been 
reared. But the founders of our government deserve the 
immortal honor of having first provided for the education 
of all. Common schools — free schools — where the poor- 



73 

est may learn, are the characteristic features of American 
institutions. 

And more than this, better than this, those great men — 
for with and in their simplicity they were truly great — 
knew well, what we are in danger of forgetting, that man 
doth not live by bread alone ; that he needs more than a 
merely intellectual culture. They appreciated human 
weakness too truly to build the fabric of free government 
on a merely human foundation. They saw that all that is 
lasting here, must be firmly bound to the unseen and eter- 
nal. And they provided for the moral and religious 
education of the young in their schools, in their colleges 
and in their churches. Honor, eternal honor, to their 
memories. 

If true to them and to the principles they loved, we 
stop not where they stopped, but in their own manly and 
vigorous way develop and complete the work they begun ; 
we shall rear on the broad and solid foundations they laid 
for us, a glorious structure, whose pinnacles shall reach to 
heaven, whose beauty shall be the admiration of the 
world, — a refuge for the oppressed of every clime, — the 
home of religion, of law, of constitutional liberty. 



Mr. Wheeler closed by reading the following poem, 
written by Miss Fanny W. Hall, of Louisville, Kentucky : 

A hundred years ago, and where we stand, 

Gazing to-day on scene so passing fair, 
Primeval forests rose on either hand — 

The Indians' haunt, or deadly panthers' lair. 

The bright blue river calmly swept along, 

In silent beauty to the sounding sea; 
And birds poured forth their morn and evening song, 

With none to listen to their melody. 



74 

What potent spell hath wrought this wondrous change 
Where the rude wigwam of the Indian stood, 

'Mid scenery savage, desolate and strange, 
Now rise fair temples, consecrate to God. 

Their tapering spires point upward to the sky, 
Guiding the thoughts of those who worship there 

To him, the Holy One, who dwells on high, 
Yet makes our lowly earth his constant care. 

Those quiet rural homes ! how fair they stand 
In clustering beauty round the "village green" ; 

Vain were the search, on distant foreign strand, 
To find a lovelier, more enchanting scene. 

Fond memory brings me back to other days — 
I see the forms of friends, beloved and true ; 

While in their earnest, tender eyes I gaze, 
How vividly the past comes up to view ! 

I see an ancient, venerable man, 

The shepherd of his flock ; with loving care 
He led them where the "living waters" ran, 

And bore them on his heart in faith and prayer. 

Just out of sight, hap'ly not far away, 

His spirit joins us at this festal hour, 
Mingling his sympathies with ours to-day, 

Breathing unseen, an influence of power. 

Another form appears, erect and tall, 

Genial and kindly ; round his social hearth 

Oft gathered, as at joyous festival, 
Kindred and friends who meet no more on earth. 

Where are they now, that happy youthful band ? 

Some still survive and joy to meet us here ; 
Others are dwellers in the "better land," 

Far, far above our dim terrestrial sphere. 



75 

That gentle matron, who with such sweet grace 
Moved noiselessly along her path of love ; 

Methinks I see her now, with beaming face, 
Looking from out her glad bright home above. 

Oh, blessed memories ! how ye recall 

The time when life was young ; nor grief, nor care, 
Had thrown its shadows o'er us like a pall, 

But the whole earth was beautiful and fair. 

******* 
Another generation treads the stage, 

The worthy song of sires whose race is run ; 
Long may they live to benefit their age, 

And dying leave their life-work nobly done. 

The fierce convulsion that hath shook our land 
From centre to circumference, did ye pale 

Before its terrors ? or with strong right hand 
Go forth to battle, from your quiet vale ? 

"Within these peaceful shades no cannon's roar 
"Awake the echoes of the hills ; the strife 

"Of battle hath not stirred our quiet shore, 
"Yet have we given many a precious life, 

"In that stern struggle for the truth and right ; 

"We too have had our martyrs." Oh ! ye brave 
And noble, who have fallen in the fight 

For freedom, is not yours an honored grave ? 

Around it shall your children gather as a shrine ; 

Sweet flowers shall bloom in fragrant beauty there ; 
Mothers teach lessons fraught with truth divine, 

And consecrated with the words of prayer. 

And when another century hath passed, 

Sweet village ! may thy course still onward be ; 

And nought thy bright prosperity o'ercast, 
Till time is lost in vast eternity. 



76 

Hon. D. E. Wheeler, of New York, presented the fol- 
lowing resolutions, which were passed unanimously : 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : I have been 
requested by a number of the guests who were invited to 
attend this Centennial, and who are here in honor of that 
occasion, to present the resolutions I hold in my hand, and 
by your permission, sir, I will read them, and hope they 
will be passed unanimously by this large and intelligent 
audience : 

We, the former residents of Orford, received with grati- 
fication the invitation to attend the Centennial Celebration 
of the town, evincing as it did, respect for its founders, a 
kind recollection of us, and the true and just sentiment of 
those who still reside in this beautiful town : 

Therefore, resolved, that we, in behalf of ourselves and 
those who are unable to be present, extend our heartfelt 
thanks to the people of Orford for their invitation, and for 
the hospitality and generous reception they have given us. 

Resolved, that the committee who have had the manage- 
ment of this Centennial, have richly earned for themselves 
the praises of us all, for the admirable manner in which 
they have performed their various and arduous duties. 

Resolved, that the ladies of Orford have done their full 
share, as they always do, in making this occasion a joyous 
one, by their presence and by the elegant and sumptuous 
feast they have provided, unconsciously showing them- 
selves worthy of being the daughters of their bold and 
intrepid Fathers and Mothers. 

Resolved, that the thanks of this large audience be ten- 
dered to Rev. Joel Mann, for his eloquent and beautiful 
historic Oration, and that he be requested to furnish a copy 
for publication. 

These resolutions speak the sentiments of those, whose 
agent I am in presenting them, and I believe they express 
the sentiments of every person who has honored himself 



77 

by being here as your guest, and all others present must 
be sensible of their truth, their appropriateness. I cer- 
tainly feel that the sentiments here expressed are justly 
due, and should the interesting features of this day close 
without their unanimous adoption, those present would 
not do themselves justice, or those to whom we are all so 
much indebted. 

We have returned to this beautiful town at this time, as 
your guests, and the greeting we have received is worthy 
of all praise from us, and worthy of the committees ; of 
the ladies of Orford. 

Sir, when we accepted the invitation of your committee 
to unite with you in closing the first century of Orford's 
history, and ushering in the morn of its second century, 
no one of us, I am sure, expected to see, to hear, to know 
what we have all seen, heard and known. We knew we 
•should be made welcome, that we should meet fathers, 
mothers, brothers and sisters, but we did not know, and 
could not know, that the scenes of to-day would be so full 
of all that is good. Most of us left Orford in early life, 
and each with an individual purpose, and during that 
absence we have severally passed the incidents of life as 
they have been meted out to us by the Ruler of us all. 
We have returned, at a common call, to take part in this 
day's celebration. In our various wanderings we have 
found no place like this. Its foundation, its early history, 
have been given us by the reverend gentlemen who deliv- 
ered the centennial. Well may we all be proud of this 
foundation, this history. Its founder was a Mann of edu- 
cation, of integrity, of indomitable energy, and his perse- 
verence knew no wavering. His personal history com- 
pletes the life of a good and brave man, and that of his 
wife, that she was a crown to her husband ; that of Morey, 
Simpson, Pratt, Britton, Wilcox, Storey, Sawyer, Marston, 
Wheeler, Howard, Strong, Tillotson and others that were 



7S 

worthy followers of him who sought out this spot, where 
no culture had opened its bosom to the warmth of the sun ; 
no ax laid to the root of the tree for the path of civilza- 
tion, and no dwellings for shelter in the storm, and no cat- 
tle upon its hills for the comfort and joy of its proprietors. 
Then desolation only was the companion of nature, and 
its winds and its storms whistled and edied around the 
wild mountain, across the river, and nestled among the 
lofty pines upon its banks, and the dense forests of oak, 
elm and maple upon the hills. The labor of these men 
and their comrades, laid bare the plains, and cut the trees 
from the hills, and opened them to the sun, to man, to civ- 
ilization. 

I well remember in one of my visits here, I met Wash- 
ington Irving, and who, when looking across the Connec- 
ticut upon the bold mountains on the West, the soft undu- 
lating surface of the North, the high, swelling hills of the 
East, and the quiet, distant South, along the valley of the 
river, said, u in all my travels in this country and in Eu- 
rope, I have seen no village more beautiful than this. It 
is a charming place — nature has done her utmost here." 
Never, to my mind, were these simple words of Irving so 
eloquent as now. It is indeed a beautiful place. The 
roads have been moulded into streets — the paths into wide, 
generous walks — the* trees of these men's planting have 
attained a magnificent growth, and they are now full of au- 
tumnal beauty, and yet they were so skilfully planted as 
not to shade too much by their large, massive, leafy bur- 
dens, the streets they were intended to ornament and shade. 

More than this : more dear to us than all this, is the spot 
where the grave yard was made. This has been enlarged, 
ornamented, cared for and changed from the quiet neglect- 
ed spot, into a beautiful unpretending cemetery. Here 
rest the earthly remains of youthful friends, brothers, sis- 
ters, fathers and mothers. They have all been tenderly 



79 

cared for, while we have been absent. Hallowed place ! 
God bless the living who have made this spot a sweet cheer- 
ful place for the rest of those who have here ceased from 
their labors, having done their work well. 

Hearts, living hearts, that have nurtured the thoughts, 
which led the hands to make and perpetuate all these 
things, have called us here and greeted us with kindness, 
and invited us to this beautiful, this inimitable feast. They 
have spread these tables upon the play ground of our child- 
hood, under this vast canopy of man's make, sufficient to 
protect thousands from the rays of the sun or the storms 
of the heavens, and seat all of us within its white and am- 
ple folds — with food and luxuries surpassing in variety, in 
goodness, anything that a city could furnish — unless some 
Delmonico, or Maison Doree, were called upon to provide. 
The tables were set and dinner all provided by the Ladies 
of Orford, they severally bringing to this common board 
the good things of their several housholds. To them, for 
such a feast, the thanks of us all are due and tendered. 
We have come home, some of us after a long wandering, and 
have personally seen, known much beyond the incidents of 
this beautiful village. Our efforts and energies have been 
tasked, and the rewards of these labors have been as vari- 
ous as have been our personal experience ; but I think we 
can all say, that had we remained here, cultivated the best 
of our natures, and performed all the duties which would 
have been imposed upon us, that life would have been more 
happy, and our lot more full of blessings. We have seen 
more, tasted of more ; but it is very doubtful whether we 
have not lost more than we have gained. It is by no means 
certain, that the additional fruits we have eaten, have not 
added to the seriousness, the sadness of life. There are 
charms of home, innocence of the fireside, which were more 
or less lost as we left the smoke of the chimnies of our 
father's house. 



80 

For one, I would advise the young men to exert them- 
selves to their utmost for happiness, for improvement, for 
great culture, at home. Remain here, and gather all the 
sweets this beautiful field yields to your minds, to your 
hearts. Life is short, and it is all we can have here. Take 
its best, and leave out the sorrows, the sadness. Yes, 
young men of Orford, if you ask me the result of my wan- 
derings — and I have known life's varieties — I would say, 
stay at home, in the midst of these beauties, these luxu- 
ries, in this charming spot. And to the young ladies — if I 
do not trespass upon forbidden ground, I would say — kin- 
dle in your own hearts, and in those of the young gentle- 
men around you, a love of home, a passion for these fields, 
these hills, these mountains, and these rivers and cooling 
streams. None are more healthful, none more pure, none 
more delightful, for the lovers of man — the lovers of God. 
Be satisfied with your present surroundings. You may be 
told of distant advantages, distant cities, distant homes ; 
but be satisfied. 

Let me call your attention to the resolutions I have read, 
and, Mr. President, allow me again to read them. We, 
who have come here to-day, feel that they should be 
passed — passed unanimously. They are a faint utterance 
of our hearts. We ask you all to again hear them, to 
approve them, and join us in passing them, and if you will 
allow me, Mr. President, I will read them, and put the 
question on their adoption myself. 

The resolutions were then read by Mr Wheeler, and the 
question was put on their adoption, and they were unan- 
imously adopted in the midst of roars of approbation. 

Henry H. Howard, Chairman of Committee of Arrange- 
ments, responded as follows : 

Mr. President : As Chairman of the Committee of 
Arrangements, perhaps I should say something in response 
to one of the resolutions just passed. I hardly know 



81 

whether to thank those who voted for it, or my good friend 
who so adroitly shoved it through by attaching it to one in 
favor of the ladies, which no one who has not a gizzard in- 
stead of a soul, would vote against. It looks very much 
as though he thought the thing a failure, and has taken 
this course to save the feelings of an old friend. I can but 
thank him for coming to the rescue. Perhaps he may be 
excused, as we were boyhood friends, and " there are no 
friends like old friends." He went out from among us 
many years since to seek fame and fortune for himself, and 
I though, as his colossal form stood before us, that if 
his intellectual had kept pace with his physical formation, 
he must have a very capacious mind, which none will doubt 
who have listened to his eloquent and appropriate remarks. 
And you will agree with me that he is one of the big men 
of the Empire City. 

Excuse me if I speak of another boyhood friend by my 
side, Rev. Charles P. Dana, of Mississippi, who has been a 
resident of the South for many years. We are glad to 
greet him to-day, and to know that he has not seceded 
from his birth place, and is loyal to old Orford. He is a 
fac similie of his father, good parson Dana of blessed mem- 
ory. Methinks I see him with his commanding presence 
and his rich, bass voice, standing in that high pulpit, with 
the big sounding board over head ; the audience seated 
below in those box pews with seats hung with hinges, and 
when the amen was said, came down with a clatter which 
reminded one of a nail factory. And the old horse-block, 
at the door outside, was as much a fixture as the pulpit, 
riding being done mostly on horse-back, the lady on the 
pillion behind, with her arm around the gentleman. Such 
a proceeding these days would make a bachelor's heart pal- 
pitate. Boys then had some bumps of reverence, and took 
off their hats to the minister, and honored their parents 
occasionally. I am sorry to say there are but few boys in 

F 



82 

these days. Before they have hardly arrived at the pin-feath- 
er age, they are Young America, and call their fathers the 
" old man." By a singular coincidence, there are four of 
us here, side by side, who were boys together, within a 
stone's throw of this spot, considerably more than a half 
century since. Here in life's bright morning, we joined in 
the sports and pastimes of youth ; climbed these grand 
old hills ; swam the beautitul Connecticut ; hunted the 
squirrels and partridges, and trapped the woodchuck. — 
I want to ask the boys if they recollect "Uncle Abel," 
that genial old gentleman who used to tend the Falls gate 
at the bridge ? how we used to trot across it in the evening, 
and make the old gentlemen open the big gate, thinking a 
team was coming, and ought to have had our ears pulled 
for our impudence ? how he used to pay us ninepence a 
day to turn his wheel to twist ropes ? bought our wood- 
chuck skins at ninepence for black ones, and fourpence 
half-penny for grey ones ? 

This boy , Charles, said to me one day, "Harry, there is a 
woodchuck's hole under a stump at the corner of the hur- 
rying yard — I saw the woodchuck go in." I went to the 
place, and set my trap — putting a tall weed in the chain, 
so I could tell whether it had sprung without going to it. 
Passing up the road the next day, I saw the weed was 
down, and scrambling up the hill, found the trap drawn 
in, began pulling it out. Something black appeared. — 
Said I, there is a black woodchuck, and a ninepence. — 
Another pull, and something white came to view, and a 
perfume which put Lubin's extract and balm of a thousand 
flowers, entirely in the shade. I left, but the perfume fol- 
lowed. 

Some may think I compromise my manhood by these 
boyish reminiscences. We are all young to-day, and have 
come up here to live over in imagination, the loves, hopes 
and fears of childhood and youth; to call to mind dear old 



83 

home scenes, when gathered around the family hearth- 
stone, we shared the affection of dear brothers and sisters, 
the care and blessing of a father, and the outgushing, un- 
faltering love of a mother, who found excuses for us when 
we could find none for ourselves. We may be pardoned if 
we are a little jubilant to-day. I must say that I feel good 
all over, and if my arms were as long as my fraternal feel- 
ings are ardent, I would embrace this whole family — ladies 
and all, provided they did not object, and these husbands and 
brothers were willing. How glorious this interview ! The 
sunny South, the mighty West — the East and the North, 
are represented here, by returning sons and daughters. — 
Gladly do we welcome them, and here to-day, on this fra- 
ternal altar, we lose all sectional, political and personal 
differences. How sweet the incense ! May this re-union 
make our charity more diffusive, and bind us firmer in fra- 
ternal bonds. 

The shadows are lengthening, and our long to be re- 
membered Centennial day will soon close, and we shall 
part, never all to meet again on earth, as one by one we 
cross the dark river, as our fathers have done before us. — 
May we leave as glorious and untarnished a record as have 
those whose memory we have met this day to commemo- 
rate. 

Begging you will excuse these rambling remarks, I wish 
to say a word about the resolutions. I believe the vote 
was a true expression of the feelings of those present. I 
can only say, that if the efforts of the committee meet the 
approbation of our fellow-townsmen, and has given pleas- 
ure to our numerous friends present, our highest ambition 
is gratified. But it is not by what we have done that suc- 
cess has been attained ; but by the efforts and encourage- 
ment of the liberal, enterprising and energetic citizens of 
Orford. I would not neglect to say in this connection, that 
the committee are under great obligations to Rev. M. P. 



84 

Runnels, for valuable suggestions and untiring assistance 
from the conception of this enterprise to its culmination in 
this centennial gathering. But above all, and more than 
all, are we under obligation to the ladies ; but I need not 
speak for them — they speak for themselves in these artistic 
and beautifully arranged tables, so gratifying to the eye, and 
so sumptuously furnished. 

They have done honor to themselves, and to the town. 
God bless them, for they are always first and foremost in 
every good word and work, and when we have their ap- 
probation and co-operation, we are always sure the enter- 
prise in hand will be successfully accomplished. 

Now, Mr. President, I propose three cheers for the ladies 
— none of your little clapping of hands concern, but those 
which come from the very bottom of the heart, and none 
will be excused but those who have never had a sister or a 
mother. 

The President then called for three cheers for the ladies, 
which were given with a will. 

Three cheers were then proposed for Mr. Howard, which 
were given, the ladies joining heartily. 

It was here announced that Mr. Howard declined serv- 
ing on the committee at the next Centennial celebration. 
It was also suggested that the probable reason of his decli- 
nation was, that he expected to get married before that 
time, and might be busily engaged in the cares and duties 
of a young and growing family. 

VOLUNTEER SENTIMENTS. 

By Rev. B. M. Tillotson — " To the Children at Home. — 
Wanderers from our father's house, we come back to-day 
to extend to you our heartiest greetings, and while we ask 
not rings for our fingers, nor shoes for our feet, we are 
exceedingly happy to partake of the fatted calf which we 
are quite sure has been killed for this occasion." 



85 

" The early settlers of Orford. — May the fabric of their 
ambition and valor ever be preserved sacred in the mem- 
ory of their sons and daughters." 

"The American Flag. — A century ago not thought of; 
four-fifths of a century ago disputed and derided as a 
piece of striped bunting; four years ago trailed in the 
dust by the traitor's hand ; now waving triumphantly and 
gloriously over thirty-six free states at home, and invoked 
as a barrier against oppression and tyranny abroad." 

" Oar brave citizen Soldiers. — We welcome you home 
from the fields of victory to the blessings of peace." 

" Woman. — Forming the mind and character of youth, 
smoothing the asperity of manhood and soothing the 
infirmity of age ; her intellectual and moral culture is the 
best guarantee for the welfare and happiness of ourselves 
and those who come after us." 

By Rev. B. M. Tillotson — "Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, 
Brothers, of the Past and the Present ; — while we hold in 
fond affection the memory of the dead, let our hearty good 
wishes and most fervent prayers ascend for the welfare of 
the living." 

The President now called A. S. Wheeler, Esq., of Bos- 
ton, to the Chair, who made brief and appropriate 
remarks. 

Toast — " The Old Gentleman in specs." 

RESPONSE. 
1 

What thrilling memories of the past 

That once familiar name evokes ! 
Of friends whose love through life shall last, 

Their greetings warm, their hearty jokes! 

2 

I hear the music of the "Band," 

Which charmed the listening throng around ; 



86 



Or, packed in horse cart, four-in-hand, 
1 see them on excursion bound ; 

3 
O'er the wheels swaying, to and fro, 

Piled on the top in careless heaps, 
While recklessly our driver Joe 

Plunged on the gallop down the steeps. 

4 

Arises to the fancy's sight 

Our leader's form, august and fat, 

While towers to a loftier height, 
Our tall but modest "first B flat." 



Return the Bass Horn's ready jest ; 

The corn-field hunt for shy raccoon ; 
The suppers rare, enjoyed with zest, 

Where Charlie bade us "pitch the tune." 

6 
Still further back my memory strives, 

Where earlier, younger scenes arise ; 
The school-house, where our boyish knives 

Carved, in our desks, the traps for flies ; 

7 
Where clustering curls, and beaming eyes, 

Still drew our truant thoughts to those 
Who since assume the matron's guise, 

Or 'neath the turf in peace repose ; 



The old store door, and butternut tree, 

From which we crossed the old "wolf's" den, 

And all the boys combined in glee 

To catch "Blind Stag" or bigger "Ben" ; 



87 



9 

The church, where o'er the preacher's head 
The threatening "sounding-board" on high 

Warned him, like Damocles, to dread 
Swift vengence, should he dare to lie ; 

10 

The spell-match, where some winter's day, 
Joe Hancock, and one near his age, 

Would spell down all the school's array, 
And long these two contest the stage. 

11 

Ah ! now, though forest, lake and hill 

Forbid his hand in mine to clasp, 
'T would wake the old, the joyous thrill 

To meet his once familiar grasp. 

12 

There, in the village store, a youth, 

Where customers were few or far, 
Would slily feed his dainty tooth 

With sweeties from the candy jar. 

13 

The full molasses hogshead, whose 

Slow running more than once betrayed 

The clerk to leave it, over shoes 
Upon the floor a deluge made. 

14 

Old Mount Moriah's rocky crest 

We oftimes would j)anting climb, 
And view the lovely scene at rest, 

The peaceful stream, the hills sublime. 

15 

The memory fondly lingers still 

Where thoughtless boyhood roved and played ; 



88 

While sunshine bathed each wood and hill, 
And sweetly wooed the forest shade. 

16 

Old scenes ! old friends ! at your recall 
My heart is full, rny eyes run o'er ! 

May happiness rest with you all, 
As in the past, till time's no more ! 



LETTERS. 

Then were numerous letters read, which had been 
received by the committee from those unable to be pres- 
ent. 

Boston, July 26, 1865. 

Hewry H. Howard, Esq. — Dear Sir : — I received your 
kind invitation to be present at the approaching Centen- 
nial Festival in my native town, and should enjoy the oc- 
casion very much ; but, unfortunately, I find myself una- 
ble to be present at the time. I have, however, prepared 
a versified response to a Toast, supposed to be offered in 
my remembrance ; and I ask of you the personal favor to 
read it yourself on the occasion. What little merit it may 
have, will be dependent, mainly, upon its being read well. 
I do not know of any one who will do it justice, except 
yourself. Some of the reminiscences may awake a smile, 
and some of them are saddening, even to tears. Of the 
ludicrous recollections, the one which dwells most strong- 
ly in my memory, is that of the spilt molasses. That re- 
ally sticks. 

With deep and hearty feelings of affection for my native 
town and townsmen, 

I am, very truly, yours, 

WILLIAM ROGERS. 



89 

Lancaster, N. H., Sept. 4, 1865. 
Henry II. Howard, Esq., Chairman Committee of Arrange- 
ments Orford Centennial Celebration : 
My Dear Sir : From the announcement of your intended 
celebration, I have fully intended to be with you on that 
occasion, and it is with no ordinary feeling of regret that 
I am compelled, at this late day, to abandon my cherished 
purpose. Business engagements, and circumstances over 
which I have no control, entirely preclude the possibility 
of my attendance. 

I shall, however, be with you in spirit as you observe 
your happy anniversary, and it will afford me much pleas- 
ure to learn, as I make no doubt I shall, that it has occurred 
to the entire satisfaction of the sdad concourse of friends 

o 

who will have aided in its celebration. 

How many and startling events have crowded the world's 
history since the pioneer first camped upon the rich mead- 
ows of my ancestral town ! How gratifying now the 
thought, that as you assemble on its hundredth civic birth- 
day, you do so in a land free in every sense, and rising to 
its true position of practical usefulness among the nations 
of the Earth. We may well mingle, on this occasion, our 
vows of patriotism, and devotion to the country's defend- 
ers, and our thanksgiving to that God who has preserved 
us, w T ith our memories of those ancestors whose pure 
example, let us hope, we have neither forgotten or dis- 
graced. 

With the warmest regard for the old home of my 
maternal ancestors and hearty wishes for its prosperity 
with that of its enterprising and excellent citizens, and 
with renewed regrets at the circumstances which deprive 
me of the anticipated pleasure of mingling with you, let 
me lay upon your board the following sentiment : 

Orford and its Citizens. Nestling in the verdurous lap 
of our beautiful river, the town is a fitting nursery of pat- 

G 



90 

riotism, culture and prosperity. May its ripe old age be 
honored by the fame of its children, and may generations 
yet unborn, imitate the sturdy and God-fearing integrity 
of those, who set and nurtured this gem in the northern 
wilderness, to blossom in after time, a rose of beauty and 
of plenty. With very kind regards, I am, 
Your obedient servant, 

HENRY 0. KENT. 



Chelmsford, Mass., May 21, 1865. 
Messrs. Howard, Perrin and Mars ton, Committee : 

Gentlemen : Returning from a short absence from 
home, I find upon my desk, yours of the 26th ult., extend- 
ing to me the honor of an invitation to be present at the 
celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the settle- 
ment of Orford, to be held on the 7th of September next. 

One of the happiest years of my early ministerial life, 
I spent preaching in Orford ; and received many attentions 
from friends there, whose kindness is still cherished. I al- 
so received my birth and education in its immediate vi- 
cinity, and have many reasons for holding its remembrance 
in kindest regards. 

If circumstances will permit at that time, I shall be hap- 
py to join with you in the celebration. 
Yours truly, 

H. W. MORSE. 



Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 30, 1865. 
To H H Howard, and other members of the Committee : 
Your invitation was duly received by me at my home in 
Michigan. I have tried very hard all summer to make ar- 
rangements to be present at the Centennial next week, 



91 

and it is only at the last moment that I can really feel that 
I am not going, and must take this way of communicating 
with you. I was born in Orford, near the extreme north- 
ern boundary of the town ; am the son — the youngest son 
— of Col. James Rogers, who was also born in Orford. — 
His father was Nathaniel Rogers, formerly of Leominster, 
Mass.; but a resident of Orford as early as 1770. I think 
my great-grandfather, also, lived for a time, in Orford. — 
With an ancestry identified with the town in its infancy, 
and youth and manhood, I may well be proud of old Or- 
ford. I admire the beautiful streets, and the grand old 
mountains, and love to revisit such scenes. If there is 
any history of the town published, I should like a copy. — 
N. R. Sargent, my cousin, will see that it is forwarded to 
me. Wishing you a pleasant centennial, 

I am, very sincerely, your townsman, 

SAMUEL J. ROGERS. 



Charlestown, May 12, 1865. 
Messrs. Howard, Marston and Perrin, Committee: 

Gentlemen : Your note containing an invitation to be 
present at the Centennial Celebration of the settlement of 
the town of Orford, was duly received. Be assured, gen- 
tlemen, it would give me great pleasure to be present on 
the occasion, but business, I fear, will not allow me that 
gratification. Though not a native of your town, I have 
known her people but to honor and esteem them, and 
know that she has native sons that are and have been an 
honor, not only to herself, but to the country, in the differ- 
ent professions and walks of life. Believe me, 
Yours with respect, 

JOS. B. MORSK 



92 

Elizabeth, September 5, 1865. 
Henry H Howard, Esq.: 

Dear Sir : Your favor of the 24th of July, desiring my 
attendance upon the Centennial Celebration to be held at 
Or ford, on the 7th inst., was duly received, and should 
have been immediately answered. 

I have, however, taken the liberty to delay this reply, in 
the anticipation that, by some possibility, I might be able 
to accept your polite invitation, and comply with your re- 
quest. But I now find myself reluctantly obliged to fore- 
go that pleasure, and hasten, in consequence, to say that, 
although I have not "bought a farm," nor "a yoke of ox- 
en," nor even " married a wife," (though I expect one 
home to-day), I cannot consistently, with engagements 
here, meet with you upon the occasion named. 

Under other circumstances, it would have given me 
great satisfaction to meet with old acquaintances still upon 
the stage ; to recall the associations of others who have 
passed away, and to revive the memories of those, who, 
long years ago, laid deep and firm the foundations of the 
social fabric of our native village and town. 

A hundred years! How short, and yet what mighty 
changes are in the space ! In the future, who can tell 
what a century will produce ? Many a child seen in your 
streets will see our people (the nation) numbered by a 
hundred million. And when the time shall have been car- 
ried forward the full period of another century, who shall 
tell their increase ? Who the developement of the country, 
its institutions, its resources — agricultural, mechanical and 
mineral, its polity, its laws, its education and its religion ? 

The men of the future, like those of the present and the 
past, will move rapidly from the theatre of life. Genera- 
tion after generation, as the cycles of time shall roll on, 
will celebrate the virtues of those who shall have "gone be- 
fore," as you now recall the names and the memories of 



93 

the great, brave and good men, and women, too, who have 
made, with their lives, the earlier history of Orford. How, 
much we call life, hangs upon the remembrance of other 
days. 

I give you, as a not inappropriate conclusion to this 
hasty note — 

The memory of the just — Let it ever be sacred as well as 
blessed. 

With much respect, dear sir, for yourself, and the gen- 
tlemen of your committee, and with kind recollections 
for all, I have to remain, 

Respectfully and very truly yours, &c, 

THOMAS B. MANN. 



To the friends gathered at the Centennial Anniversary of 

the settlement of Old Orford, greeting : 

The invitation to be present at your Anniversary, made 
through your committee, was duly received. It trans- 
ferred me at once to the associations of early life — to my 
mountain home, its surroundings, its joys, its sorrows, its 
labors and its trials. The brooks and mills and trout haunts; 
the orchard, the haying and the blueberry pickings ; the 
storms, the drift, and the sliding places — these and the ex- 
perience connected, are as clearly in memory, after an ab- 
sence of nearly thirty years, as though they were the ex- 
perience and observation of yesterday. The old school 
house, with all its experiences, in doors and out ; the famil- 
iar faces — so many gone forever ; the churches, the old 
Methodist, with its four-sided roof and wood color so thor- 
oughly browned ; the old back meeting house — a very cas- 
tle, and, as I remember, without underpinning ; the meet- 
ing house on the river road, down the rod of which came 
the lightning, tearing up the ground, on a time, and the 



94 

galleries around those huge structures where wild boys 
played truant ; and then priest Dana, with his fine bass 
voice, always pronouncing near the close of his prayer the 
words "triune God ;" and priest Farns worth, a little cor- 
pulent, social and kindly — one of the trio, with Capt. Wheel- 
er at their head, who visited the school (dread trio); and 
the new brick meeting house by the brook, now grown old, 
I remember them all, and much that was connected with 
them, and should feel it the happiest day of my life, if I 
could be with you on your anniversary occasion. 

I can be so only in spirit, and with these few words of 
cheer and congratulation. 

And in representing the tribe of Aaron, the son of one 
of the first settlers of your town, and those of our friends 
here who are not otherwise represented, I can say — we 
feel proud of our ancestral home — of its institutions — of 
its thrift, and, especially, of its age. 

We congratulate you on your u Plymouth Rock;" we 
congratulate you on your puritan principles ; we con- 
gratulate you that your institutions have a firmer founda- 
tion than granite, and that they will be as enduring as the 
existence of the race. We congratulate you on the honor 
to you and to the institutions you foster, resulting from 
the fidelity to principle of those who have gone out from 
you, and that you are permitted to celebrate your hun- 
dredth birthday with your soldiers, so many of them re- 
turned ; the Union restored ; popular government vindi- 
cated, and peace and plenty so generally enjoyed. Ac- 
cept the assurance that our family is loyal to you, to pu- 
ritanism and to the Union. 

We have been represented in the army, by ten of our 
number — eight on service of three years each. One has 
been sacrificed on the altar of his country ; two have 
scars they will carry through life. Accept the assurance 
that New England principles have been planted at the 



95 

West — that they are exerting a controlling influence, and 
that they will in all coming time, and that the West will 
strike hands with you in maintaining the integrity and 
promoting the welfare of our common country. 

Accept our earnest wish that your prosperity may con- 
tinue ; that your honor may never be tarnished, and that 
your glory may never depart. 

Yours, fraternally, 

WM. R. MANN. 
Earlville, Lasalle Co., TIL, Aug. 29, 1865. 



Roxbury, April 10th, 1865. 
Messrs. Howard, Perrin and Marston : 

Gentlemen : It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge 
the receipt of your favor of the 23d ultimo, inviting me to 
be present at the one hundredth Anniversary of the settle- 
ment of your beautiful town, on the 7th of September next. 
It would give me true pleasure to meet the acquaintances 
of my school-boy days, and recall the many pleasant 
scenes and times then enjoyed. But as I think of them, 
a sudden sadness comes over me, as I reflect that two of 
my most intimate and longest continued friendships have 
long since been severed by death. I refer to the death of 
my very early friends, James P. Howard and Lewis Mann. 
Their sterling qualities attached me to them as warm 
friends, ever after our acquaintance till their decease. I 
should greet their friends cordially now as my friends, 
were I at your celebration, and if it is consistent with my 
engagements and duties at that time, it will afford me high 
gratification to be present. 

I remain, very truly, your ob't serv't, 

THEODORE OTIS. 



96 

New York, Sept. 5, 1865. 
General Gilman Mars Ion, Orford, N. H. : 

My Dear Sir : I cannot express to you, by letter, how 
deeply I regret my inability to be present on the occasion 
of my native town's " Centennial Anniversary." 

I had so confidently counted upon being with you, that 
I have waited till the last moment to tell you of my disap- 
pointment. 

If opportunity should present, I wish you to say to my 
fellow town's-people, that if they feel one-half the disap- 
pointment which I experience, they have been very severely 
punished. 

That prosperity may always be with you, is the sincere 
and hearty wish of 

Your friend and obed't serv't, 

S. S. ERITTON. 



Prescott, Arizona, July 6, 1865 
My dear old friend Howard : I left California early in 
May last, and arrived at this, the capital of Arizona Ter- 
ritory, on June 19th ; and among the first words of hope 
and friendly cheer to greet me on entering this new, and 
now the most dangerous section of our broad country, was 
an invitation from yourself, and from my fondly cherished 
New England home, to be present at a Centennial Cele- 
bration of the settlement of my dear, native Orford. — 
What sacred memories are thronging upon me ! I deem 
it a duty to acknowledge your kindness, and with the deep- 
est feelings of mingled sadness and heartfelt gratitude, I 
make the attempt in vain, to send you a fitting expression 
of my feelings, and of my entire sympathy of soul and 
being with the motives and object of the grand, the bless- 
ed occasion. No earthly event which I can imagine, would 



97 

give me such joy, to assist and to share in, as this. But 
stern duty, or possibly a misguided sense of it, com pels me 
to a cruel self-denial of this great happiness, and, instead, 
to toil yet a while in developing the vast hidden wealth of 
these western wilds. But no privations, no trials, no allure- 
ments, no time or space, can ever crush the bright hope 
that I may sometime return to New England, and finally 
pass my last years in blessed rest in my own native homo. 

With many assurances of love and esteem, 

ELIHU M. CORLISS. 

P. S. The Apaches are very troublesome in this region, 
and the mails are uncertain in arriving. Have had no Cali- 
fornia or eastern news during the last month. But I am 
in hopes that this will reach you before the celebration, that 
you may all know that I fully appreciate the kindness and 
the occasion. Yours, ever, 

E. M. CORLISS. 



Philadelphia, August 23, 1865. 
Gentlemen : Some time since, I received your invita- 
tion to attend the "Centennial Celebration" of the town of 
Orford. I have delayed my answer, hoping that it would 
be in my power to accept it, and unite with you in the com- 
memoration of such an interesting event. I find that it 
will not be possible for me to do so. Please, therefore, 
convey to those who assemble, my sincere regret that I 
cannot personally participate with them ; but that I feel a 
deep interest in all that relates to the past history and fu- 
ture welfare of "Old Orford." Aside from other consider- 
ations, in her ancient burial place, repose the remains of 
rny honored father and elder brother. Although born in 
Fairlee, my early recollections are associated with Orford 
and Fairlee alike. Being only thirteen years of age 



98 

when we left there, I have a distinct recollection of many 
events and associates of my childhood, as well as of the 
then old inhabitants of both places. My mother, a daugh- 
ter of General Israel Morey, of Orford, was, I have been 
told, the first white female born in Orford. As there are 
many of the lineal descendants of General Morey now liv- 
ing there, whose testimony relating to the early history of 
the vicinity and its inhabitants, can be had, my imperfect 
reminiscences could add nothing to the interest of the occa- 
sion. If it be so, " that history is philosophy teaching by 
example," what a lesson has been taught us in the last 
four years. While as a christian people we should ac- 
knowledge God in all our ways, in calling to mind what He 
has done for us in the past, our special thanks are due for 
the triumph of freedom and the downfall of tyranny and 
oppression, as the result of our struggle to preserve the 
life of the nation, so lately in such imminent peril. The 
camp-fires of hostile armies have been extinguished; but 
the fire of rebellion still burns in many a rebel heart. 
"Eternal vigilance" is, therefore, now, as ever, the price at 
which our liberties are to be preserved. 

Thanking you for the remembrance of me, I am, 
Very truly, yours, 

I. M. BISSELL. 

To Messrs. Henry H. Howard, Henry S. Perrin and 
Arthur Marston, Committee. 



A social levee was held at the Academy halls in the even- 
ing. 

Music by the Band. 



99 

The following original Hymn, by Isaac Willard, was 
sung by the choir : 

CENTENNIAL SONG. 



BY ISAAC WILLARD. 



Tune — " America." 



A hundred years ago, 
Tradition tells us so, 

Here forests stood ; 
The birds of every flight, 
The wolf and bear in might, 
The savage as his right 

Claimed the whole wood. 

The Indian huts we learn, 
Where the camp-fires burned, 

Were far and near ; 
Here the war-whoop was sung, 
Here the death-knell was rung, 
Here the dark maid was won, 

All without fear. 



A hundred years have fled, 
♦Since the first white man's tread. 

How great the change — 
The thinned forests stand, 
To beautify the land, 
For shade on either hand, 

In street and lane. 



The wolf and bear have gone, 
The native fled the lawn, 

No vestige left. 
Connecticut's six sons, 
First settled on this ground, 
And labor has been crowned 

With rich success. 



100 

Churches of which there're three. 
Also the Academy, 

In beauty shine. 
The schoolhouses 1 busy hive, 
Of which seventeen now thrive, 
Shops, town-house, dwellings, all 

Speak wealth and worth. 

A thousand Orford sons, 
From city, town, and ville, 

To-day we greet. 
Come, friends, and with us stand, 
To make one festal band, 
And hand shall join with hand, 

In union sweet. 

A hundred years from now, 
Both sire and son shall bow 

Beneath the ground. 
Our childrens' children then, 
Will celebrate this day, 
And we shall join again, 

If faithful found. 



APPENDIX 



NOTE TO THE READER. 



It was thought that it might contribute largely to the 
interest and value of this publication, if brief sketches of 
the early families of Orford and their descendents could 
be added thereto. Accordingly the chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements sent special requests to the differ- 
ent families to furnish their family records, with such addi- 
tional remarks as might be deemed proper. Many did not 
respond ; some could not, not having the necessary data 
at hand. After waiting a reasonable length of time, the 
following were received, and the only regret is that all 
could not, or did not comply with the wishes of the com- 
mittee. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



AVERY. 

Deacon Simeon Avery was born in Groton, Conn., in 
1730. 

His wife was Sarah Niles, born in 1734. Came to Or- 
ford at an early day, and settled on the place known as the 
Capt. Pratt place. Was one of the first inn-keepers in 
town, and kept the first ferry across the Connecticut. He 
died in 1790 ; his wife in 1783. 

They were parents of Deacon Silas Avery and Jesse 
Avery, pious, worthy and much respected citizens. Jesse 
died in 1824 ; Silas a few years later. 



BISSELL. 

Col. Edward M. Bissell, son of Simeon B. Bissell, was 
born in Fairlee, Vt., in 1800. His mother was Martha, 
daughter of Gen. Israel Morey, and the first female born 
in Orford. He was the eldest of four brothers, Israel M., 
who is a merchant and resides in Philadelphia ; Simeon 
B., a Captain in the United States Navy ; George W. P., 
who was, for many years, in command of ships in the 
merchant service, and subsequently became an extensive 
banker in San Francisco, Cal., where he died a few years 
since. Edward M. came to Orford in early life, and was 



104 

for many years, prominent in mercantile business. Affa- 
ble and gentlemanly in deportment, he was universally 
esteemed. An ardent admirer of the beautiful, to his 
taste and judgment may be justly attributed much which 
adorns and beautifies the village. 

He was, for a number of years, Representative of the 
town in the Legislature. He was twice married — first to 
Elizabeth M., daughter of William Howard, who died 
January 10th 1845; second to Catherine M., daughter of 
Hon. A. G. Britton. He died April 16th, 1857. 



BLOOD. 

Stephen Blood was born in Charlton, Mass., May 3d, 
1762; he was the sixteenth, and the youngest in the fam- 
ily. Bethiah Cole was born in Boxford, Mass., June 27, 
1764. She, also, was the sixteenth, and youngest of the 
family. Mr. Blood was married to Miss Cole, January 11, 
1784. They became citizens of Orford early in the summer 
of 1784. There were born unto them fourteen children ; 
of whom three died in early infancy — three others before 
attaining to majority of years, and three others after hav- 
ing been married and having families. Five out of the 
fourteen still live — Sylvester and Samuel in Orford. Mar- 
tha D., in Wisconsin, Sarah D., in California, and Daniel 
C, in Ohio. 

The hardships endured by this family, in common with 
others, in the early settlement of the town, might easily be 
wrought into a considerable volume, wherein truth would 
seem stranger than fiction. They were repeatedly without 
bread for several days in succession, and twice they lost 
nearly everything by the burning of their house. But as 
Orford improved, their circumstances became easier, and 



105 

for many years they were strangers to want. The young- 
est son, Daniel 0., was graduated at Dartmouth College in 
1828, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1831, and 
has been a successful minister of the gospel at the West, 
for more than thirty-four years. 



CORLISS. 

George Corliss was born in England, about the year 
1617, and came to this country in 1639. He is believed to 
have been the first one of the name who came to this coun- 
try, and the ancestor of most, if not all, of that name in New 
England. He married Joanna Davis, October 26, 1645. 
She came from that part of England called Wales. Theirs 
was the second marriage in the town of Haverhill, Mass. 

In 1640, he settled upon a tract of land in the west part 
of Haverhill, which has been handed down from father to 
son to the present time, and is now owned and occupied 
by Charles Corliss, (of the seventh generation) and is 
known as " Poplar Lawn." He was an enterprising and 
industrious man, and well qualified to lake a prominent 
part in the settlement of a new town, and at his death was 
possessed of a large landed property. He owned most of 
the land on both sides of the old " Spicket Path," as it 
was then called, for more than three miles 

He died October 19, 1686, leaving an extensive farm, 
which he divided by will, among his children, giving his 
home farm, " Poplar Lawn," to his only son, John. 

One of his daughters (Mrs. Mary Neff) was taken by 
the Indians with Mrs. Dustin, and remained with her 
through the whole captivity. To her he gave the farm 
where William Swasey now lives, one mile east of "Pop- 
lar Lawn." 
i 



106 

John, only son of George, born March 4, 1647; mar- 
ried Mary Milford, December 17, 1684. 

Jonathan, fourth son of John, born July 16, 1695 ; 
married Betsey Moore, March, 1717. 

John Moore, twelfth child of Jonathan, had three wives; 
married for his first wife, Lydia Sanborn, who died in Al- 
exandria, N. H., in 1770, leaving three sons, Elihu, Daniel 
and John Moore, Jr. 

John Moore and his brother, Jonathan, were the first 
settlers of the town of Alexandria, N. H., and at the time 
of his first wife's death, were the only men in the town. 

They cut a log from a pine tree, and dug it out for a 
coffin, and- buried her in the woods. In 1852, while re- 
pairing the roads, her remains were found, and buried by 
the side of her husband. Her hair was in a good state of 
preservation, only changed from black to a flax color, 
though having been buried over eighty years. 

John Moore was a man of uncommon physical strength, 
and was called in his day "a double-jointed man." When 
young, his hair was black, at eighty it was white ; it then 
began to turn dark, and at the age of ninety-three, (the 
time of his death) it was black and glossy as a young 
person's. 

Elihu, first son of John Moore, born March 22, 1758. 
In 1775, he enlisted in a company of volunteers, and 
marched with all speed for Boston, and met the Americans 
at Charlestown, as they retreated from Bunker Hill. He 
married Sarah Gordan, and first settled in Alexandria, and 
moved to Orford in 1792, and died September 20, 1844, 
aged 86. They had eleven children, all but one of whom 
lived to adult age. Alexander was born October 1, 1784 ; 
married Abigail Marsh, March 14, 1810. Settled in Orford 
as a farmer, and died October 20, 1858, aged 74. 

John Moore was born March 24, 1786 ; married Rosa- 



107 

mond Dame, November 30, 1809. Settled in Orford, and 
died August 19, 1850, aged 64. In 1848, -he married a 
second wife, Abigail Eaton, who now lives in Bradford, 
Vermont. Lydia, the third child, died February 20, 1842, 
aged 54. 

Elihu Jr., was born February 18, 1790 ; married widow 
Harriet Clark, (a daughter of James Dayton, Esq., of Or- 
ford), December 18, 1823, and died September 28, 1858, 
aged 68. 

Amasa died a young lad. Daniel emigrated to Ohio 
when a young man, and subsequently settled in the town 
of Parkman, and married widow Glass, and died in 1855. 
James, also, went to Ohio, and died there while yet a young 
man. 

Willard married Clarissa Hatch, who died in 1838. He 
now resides in Newport, N. H., and is the only one of the 
family now living. Hannah married Sylvester Blood of 
Orford. Ebenezer married Laura Drake, and died at Lis- 
bon, N. E., December, 1832. 

Sarah went to Ohio with her brother, Daniel, in 1836, 
and married there ; but died a few years after. 

Of the grandsons of Elihu, there are now living Daniel 
G. Corliss, Cincinnati, Ohio, John S. Corliss, Orford, N. H., 
sons of Alexander. Levi D. Corliss, Orford, N. H., John 
M. Corliss, Troy, N. Y., sons of John M. Elihu M., 
Arizona Territory, John M., Fairlee, Vermont, sons of 
Elihu, Jr. Elihu G., Troy, Ohio, son of Daniel ; George 
H., Newport, N. H., son of Willard ; James, Thetford, 
Vermont, son of Ebenezer. Of the great-grandsons, two 
only, have arrived at manhood-— Wilbur F., Cincinnati, 
Ohio, Charles H., New York, sons of John M., of Troy. 

Rosanna Corliss, sister to Levi D. and John M., married 
Daniel C. Houghton, and died some years ago. Rosamond, 
another sister, married the late Rev. O. H. Tillotson, 



108 

and now lives at Northfield, Vermont, with her only son. 

Levi D. is a farmer, residing at Orford — a man of strict 
integrity and great energy of character. 

John M. is a successful merchant in Troy, N. Y., where 
he is much respected. 

The Corliss family has long been an influential one in 
the town of Orford. 



CROSS 



Bethuel Cross, a nephew of Daniel Cross, was born in 
Mansfield, Conn., February 15, 1768. At the age of three 
years, his parents moved from that place to Wentworth, 
near the border of Orford. His mother died soon after 
their arrival, leaving several small children. His father, 
feeling disheartened, was induced through the entreaties 
of Capt. Post and wife, of Orford, to give Bethuel to them, 
as their child — they having no children. At the age of 
four years, accompanied by a little sister a few years older, 
he started on his journey to his new home, on foot, there 
being no road — no guide, but marked trees. He has often 
been heard to relate, in his cheerful, affable manner, the 
adventures of his journey through a wilderness of twelve 
miles, and exclaim with a merry laugh — "boys at the pres- 
ent day would shrink with horror at so perilous an under- 
taking." He had resided in his new home but a few years, 
when his adopted father was called forth to fight for the 
liberties of his country. He was killed in the battle of 
Bennington, Vermont. 

At the age of ten, his adopted mother was married to 
Governor Spooner, of Hartland, Vermont, where they 
went to reside. This connection proved a vei-y great bene- 
fit to him, as his new guardian took a great interest in his 



109 

education. He taught him many things which he could 
not obtain in a common school. At the age of 18, in com- 
pliance with the wishes of his adopted mother, he came 
back to Orford, to superintend her farm and business here. 
Naturally possessed of great energy and perseverence of 
character, he was capable of doing a vast amount of busi- 
ness. It has often been said that no man in town, from 
the ordinary pursuits of life, accomplished more than he 
did. At the age of 19, he was chosen constable ; later in 
life he held the office a number of years, of deputy sheriff 
for the county of Grafton. During the war of 1812, he 
was chosen custom-house officer and assessor of taxes for 
the county of Grafton ; also, many town offices. He was 
an upright man, and interested in whatever pertained to 
the best good and prosperity of the town. 

June 25, 1795, he was married to Electa Taylor, of 
Hartland, Vermont. She died within two years after their 
marriage. His second marriage was to Hannah Alexan- 
der, of Northheld, Massachusetts. By her he had seven 
children, viz. : Electa Taylor, born February 22, 1796 ; 
Nancy xVnn, October 16, 1798 ; Bethuel Taylor, November 
14, 1800 ; Hannah, August 12, 18C2 ; Eliphas Alexander, 
June 4, 1804 ; Henry Holiday, May 30, 1806 ; Fanny, May 
31, 1808. 



DAYTON. 

James Dayton was born at Glastenburg, Conn., in 1768. 
Served an apprenticeship at the clock manufacturing busi- 
ness at Hartford, Conn., and came to Orford in 1792, and 
commenced the business of carding and cloth dressing, 
much to the convenience of the inhabitants. The town 
can boast of but few superior men. With a commanding 



110 

voice and person, he was a leader in public assemblies ; 
was often called to preside at meetings of the town. His 
honor and integrity were unquestioned. He died August 
2, 1854. He married Lucinda Morey. They had nine 
children ; six now survive. James resides at the old home- 
stead ; Caroline married Hiram Powers, and resides at Or- 
ford, as does Henry, who married Julia Whitcomb. Maria 
married Ida Hodge, and lives at Bath ; Eliza resides at Or- 
ford. Daniel is a physician, and lives at South Bend, 
Indiana. 



DEWEY. 

Nathan Dewey and his wife, Mendwell, moved from He- 
bron, Conn., to Orford, about the year 1765. He was a 
blacksmith, and lived and carried on his trade opposite 
where is now the hotel in Orford street. He died in 1779. 
His sons Nathan and Abel, both lived and died in Orford. 
The former sustained the office of deacon in the church 
for many years with fidelity and usefulness ; the latter was 
a hard-working farmer, and always resided in Orford. 

Nathan, senior, was the grandfather of T. M. Dewey, for- 
merly a resident of Orford, and now a member of the Mas- 
sachusetts bar, who has earned a good reputation through- 
out the New England states as a teacher of music at the 
present day, and who takes a high rank as a conductor of 
musical societies, as well as faithful interpreter of the En- 
glish ballad. 



DANA. 

Sylvester Dana was born at Ashford, Windham county, 
Conn., on the 4th of July, 1769. He was the great-great- 



Ill 

grandson of Richard Dana, a French Protestant, who fled 
from persecution in France ; went first to England, and 
from thence came to America about the year 1640 ; and 
settled in that part of Cambridge now included in the town 
of Brighton, Massachusetts. Richard Dana had a son and 
a grandson, both named Jacob Dana. Jacob, Jr., had a 
son named Anderson, who was a lawyer by profession, and 
who married Susannah Huntington, of Lebanon, Connecti- 
cut. They were the parents of eight children, of whom 
Sylvester was the seventh. In the autumn of 1772, the 
Dana family removed from Ashford to the Wyoming Val- 
ley, on the Susquehanna river, which is now included in 
the state of Pennsylvania. Though but three years of age, 
Sylvester ever distinctly remembered riding on horseback 
behind his mother, who carried an infant in her arms while 
making that journey of nearly 800 miles — the last fifty of 
which was through a wilderness, with only marked trees for 
a guide. The family settled in Wilkesbarre, the principal 
town in that beautiful valley, and for six years were highly 
prospered. The Wyoming Valley was then claimed by 
Connecticut under an old charter of King Charles Second, 
and was chiefly settled by people from Connecticut, who 
lived many years far removed from other settlements of 
white men. Representation was allowed in the General 
Assembly of Connecticut, and in 1778, Anderson Dana 
was elected to represent the town of Westmoreland in that 
body. After an absence of eight weeks, he returned to his 
home, to become an actor and a victim in the tragic scene 
which desolated that valley. In the summer of that year, 
a band of British and tories, led on by Col. John Butler, 
and accompanied by 700 Indian auxiliaries, attacked and 
utterly destroyed the settlements of that valley. Most of 
the men were slain ; all their property was either destroyed 
or carried away, and the women and children, who escaped 
massacre, fled through the wilderness to the nearest white 



112 

settlements. Among the slain were Anderson Dana and 
his son-in-law, Stephen Whiton. Mrs. Dana, after filling a 
pillow-case with her husband's more valuable papers, com- 
menced her flight on foot through the wilderness, accom- 
panied by seven of her children, including Sylvester, who 
was then nine years old. They at length reached Ashford, 
after enduring great hardships, and the children were 
placed in various families where they could be of service. 
Sylvester labored on the farms of several persons, until he 
attained the age of about 17, when, with his older brother, 
Aziel, he returned to Wilkesbarre, and commenced culti- 
vating their father's lands. Their scanty stock of provis- 
ions was soon exhausted, and as no supply could be obtained 
in that desolated valley, the family were compelled to sub- 
sist for six weeks on parsley and milk exclusively, until 
the growing corn was fit to roast. During the latter part 
of the same year, (1786) their mother, and the next spring, 
their brother, Anderson, joined them. The three brothers 
purchased considerable real estate for small amounts, and 
were well rewarded for their industry during the ensuing 
five years. Then, as Sylvester afterwards said, " the 
thought struck me one day if I could dispose of what 
property I have gained, it might be sufficient to carry me 
through college and preparatory studies for preaching the 
gospel to my fellow creatures." He accordingly disposed 
of his interest in his property to his brothers, returned to 
Connecticut, where he completed his preparatory studies, 
and entered Yale College in 1793, at the age of 24. He 
was, during the succeeding spring, visited with severe sick- 
ness, and brought very near the grave, but he recovered so 
as to go on with his class. During his sophomore year, he 
was admitted to the college church. In 1797, he gradu- 
ated with his class, which was one of eminent talent — con- 
taining among its members Rev. Lyman Beecher, Prof. 
James Murdock, Judge Henry Baldwin, of the United 



113 

States Supreme Court, Hon. Horatio Seymour, of Ver- 
mont, and others. 

After graduating, Mr. Dana immediately commenced bis 
theological studies with the Rev. Charles Backus, of Som- 
ers, Conn., and on the 5th of June, 1798, he was licensed 
to preach. During that summer, he preached in various 
places in Connecticut, and at Wilkesbarre and Hanover 
Penn., daring the following year. In the winter of 1799 
and 1800, he was employed by the Connecticut Missionary 
Society, to preach among the new settlements of western 
New York, and fulfilled his mission acceptably. In the 
spring of 1800, he preached at Windsor, Vermont, three 
months, and subsequently at Haverhill and Orford, New 
Hampshire, from each of which places he received a unani- 
mous call of the people to settle. 

On the 20th day of May, 1801, he was ordained minister 
of Orford, in presence of nearly the whole population of 
the town ; and for about 21 years he sustained that rela- 
tion, usually preaching at the East and West meeting- 
houses alternately. At the expiration of that period, a 
new Congregational Society was organized, comprising 
people in the western part of Orford, and in the adjacent 
town of Fairlee, Vt., and over it, and the church connected 
with it, Mr. Dana was settled February 19th, 1823, and 
continued until 1833, when he resigned his pastoral charge. 
During the four subsequent years, he preached at Thorn- 
ton, N. H., and witnessed considerable accessions to the 
church. In August, 1837, being 68 years of age and 
somewhat infirm, he retired from active labors in the min- 
istry, and removed to Concord, N. H. There, he quietly 
passed the evening of life, respected and beloved by all 
who knew him. In the autumn of 1839, he visited the 
Wyoming Valley, where he passed the ensuing winter in 
preaching occasionally. 

In September, 1844, the house in which he resided at 



114 

Concord, was destroyed by fire, and a large portion of his 
worldly effects, including more than 500 volumes of his li- 
brary, were consumed, together with all his manuscript 
sermons, a carefully written system of theology, and a his- 
tory of the Wyoming Valley. He narrowly escaped the 
flames with life. 

In the autumn of 1846, he again visited his brother An- 
derson, on the old farm at Wiikesbarre, and extended his 
journey to Virginia ; and in the following year, he attended 
the Commencement at Yale College — it being the fiftieth 
anniversary of his graduation, and there met 12 of the 24 
survivors out of a class numbering 87. " The meeting 
was intensely interesting." 

In his domestic relations, Mr. Dana was happy. He 
married, March 2d, 1802, Miss Hannah Kimball, of Con- 
cord, daughter of Deacon John Kimball. Mrs. D. sud- 
denly deceased November 16th, 1846, during the absence 
of her husband on his last visit to Wyoming. They were 
the parents of nine children, five of whom died in infancy. 
Their daughter Anna, married Dr. Reuel Barrows, of Frye- 
burg, Maine. She survives her husband, who died July 
18th, 1857. Their son, Charles Backus, a graduate of 
Dartmouth College, and of the Andover Theological Semi- 
nary, was for a long time, Rector of Christ's church, at 
Alexandria, Virginia — the church with which Washington 
himself was connected, and is now having a similiar charge 
at Port Gibson, Mississippi. Their youngest son, Sylves- 
ter, also a graduate of Dartmouth College, entered the 
profession of law at Concord, and is now Police Justice of 
that city. Hannah, the youngest daughter, married Rev. 
S. S. Tappan, then of Conway, N. H. She died April 19th, 
1855, at Providence, R. I. 

The mother of Mr. Dana passed the last seven years of her 
exemplary and useful life at his house. She died, and was 
buried at Orford in February, 1818, at the ripe age of 87. 



.115 

Late in 1847, Mr. Dana wrote to one of his classmates 
as follows : " Fifty-three years have passed away since I 
made a public profession of religion, during which period 
I have generally enjoyed a comfortable state of mind ; not 
having been carried with St. Paul to the third Heaven, nor 
with Cowper, deeply depressed ; but have been enabled to 
go on my way rejoicing in God, my Savior. At times I 
am almost ready to adopt the language of Rev. John New- 
ton, who said he was like a letter — written, folded, super- 
scribed, sealed — waiting for the carrier. Surely, I shall 
not have occasion to wait long for the carrier." The car- 
rier did not long delay, for during the following year his 
health became much impaired, and he very gradually ap- 
proached his expected death, with much bodily suffering, 
incident to a general decay of his physical system, while 
at the same time, his mind retained its accustomed vigor. 
In May, 1849, he received an invitation to attend the or- 
dination there of Rev. William Clark. With great pain, 
he arose from his bed, and wrote his last letter in reply, 
in which he used the following language : " Were it pos- 
sible for me to be present at the contemplated ordination 
at this noon of the 19th century, how few, alas ! should I 
be able to find who were present on a like occasion at its 
dawn. Where arc now the people of Orford of mature 
years who attended at the East Meeting House 48 years 
ago this present month to witness my own ordination ? 
Where are those who were accustomed to assemble from 
Sabbath to Sabbath for religious worship ? Where are 
those, who there were wont to gather around the commun- 
ion table of our blessed Savior, to celebrate his dying love ? 
Departed ! nearly all departed to the world of Spirits. 
The tide of time will soon waft each of you to another 
world. Whatever, then, you would do for God and your 
fellow mortals, do quickly, for the grave, the house ap- 
pointed for all the living, will soon be yours." 



116 

Mr. Dana calmly expired on the 9th day of June, 1849, 
lacking but a few days of 80 years of age. His funeral 
was largely attended by the clergy and people of all de- 
nominations, and the Rev. Dr. Bouton preached an appro- 
priate funeral discourse. His remains lie in the old ceme- 
tery at Concord, while his spirit can undoubtedly testify 
to the truth of his last words — " There is rest in Heaven" 



DAVIS. 

Under this name, we present portions of two letters ad- 
dressed to the Chairman of the Committee, as follows : 

Wentworth, Nov. 80, 1865. 
Mr. Howard, 

Dear Sir : My father removed from Ruumey to Orford 
in 1788. His nearest neighbor in Orford was Mr. Wyer, 
who lived three miles distant. The nearest on the other 
side, and equally distant, was Gen. Betters, of Wentworth. 

My father harnessed the cow into the sled one winter, 
and took my mother and went a visiting to Mr. Wyer's, 
and spent the evening. He used to go across to Maj. 
Todd's, earn a bushel of corn and bring it home on his 
back the same day. My mother earned a dollar a day, 
weaving, besides taking care of four children. My father 
died in 1826, aged 78 years. My mother went to Michi- 
gan in 1835. She died in less than one year after. They 
had a family of eight children. They are all dead but my- 
self and two sisters, Mary and Ruth, who live in Michigan. 
I lived in Orford 71 years. I have had three wives. They 
are all dead. I have had nine children, and they are all 
living but two. I am 79 years old last July. 

Yours, &c, 

JOHN DAVIS. 



117 

Cambridgeport, Mass., Nov. 29, 1865. 
H. H. Howard, Esq., 

Dear Sir : My father, Samuel Davis, was born in Salis- 
bury, N. H., August 8th, 1772. He went to Orford in 
1795, and died there, March 6th, 1849. My mother, Polly 
Grimes, was born in Maine, August, 1779. She went to 
Orford in 1795, and there died in April, 1831. My parents 
both lived with Capt. Jared Mann from the time they went 
to Orford, till they were married in 1798. I think that 
they were married at his house, by John Mann, Esq., but 
am not certain. They lived in Orford from the time of 
their removal there till they died. 

Truly yours, 

JAMES C. DAVIS. 

Jared M. Davis enlisted in Co. E, 5th New Hampshire 
Volunteers ; served as Sergeant two years in that regi- 
ment ; lost his left arm in the battle of Chancellorsville, 
May 3d, 1863. In January, 1864, he was appointed 2d 
Lieutenant, and was in the service three years and three 
mouths. 



KIMBALL. 

Eliphalet Kimball was born at Bradford Massachusetts, 
in 1769, and came to Orford in 1790. Commenced the 
practice of medicine, and was for many years, the princi- 
pal physician. At that early day the roads were poor, the 
population sparse. A physician's task was no holiday 
recreation. It required a person of energy and persever- 
ance. Such was the subject of this sketch. Kind hearted 
and generous, the poor as well as the rich shared alike his 
professional services. He was for many years, Town 
Clerk, and died in 1843, leaving a blessed memory. 



118 

He married Elizabeth C. Porter, of Plymouth, N. H. 
She died in 1839. They had nine children : John Porter, 
Eliza Liver more, Eliphalet, Hazen Spofford, Sarah Martin, 
Mary Woodman, Margaret Dennie, Jane Porter, Laura 
Wheelock. 

John P. was a physician, and died at New Orleans, La., 
December 2, 1843. Eliza married Dr. Alfred Pixby ; 
he is dead. She resides at Enosburg Falls, Vt. Eliphalet 
is a physician, and living. Hazen S. is superintendent of 
extensive silver mines at Zaceticas, Mexico. 

Sarah M. married W. B. Westbrook, Esq. She is a 
widow, and resides at Accord, N. Y. Margaret died at 
Galveston, Texas, January 2, 1840. Jane P. married S. 
W. Hale, and is now a resident of Orlord. Charles P. 
married Helen Page, of Sharon, Vt., and resides at North- 
field. Laura married Harry Allen, and died in New York, 
May 12, 1847. 



MARSTON. 

Jeremiah Marston was born at Hampton, N. H., Febru- 
ary 22, 1745. Came to Orford in 1769, in company with 
Gen. Israel Morey, and the same year assisted to survey 
the town into lots. His wife was Hannah Towle. They 
had three children — Sarah, Jeremiah and Hannah. Jere- 
miah is the only one living. He was born October 27, 
1780, and still lives on the place of his birth, respected 
and beloved in his old age, by all the inhabitants of the 
town. Capt. Marston has ever been regarded as one of 
the most substantial citizens of Orford. He has occupied 
responsible positions, always with honor to himself and 
satisfaction to his fellow townsmen. He was Selectman 
during eleven successive years. He remains, one of the 



119 

fathers not yet passed away — a worthy representative of a 
generation that acted their part well in life, and have 
transmitted a goodly heritage to their children. Blessings 
upon the heads of the venerable fathers who still remain. 
He was twice married ; first to Betsey Gilman, Decem- 
ber 7, 1806. She died December 20, 1807. Second to 
Theda, daughter of Ichabod Sawyer. They had five 
children, viz.: Gilman, Charles, Arthur, Jeremiah and 
Harriet. Gilman is a conspicuous member of the New 
Hampshire Bar, Representative in Congress, and was a 
General in the late war. Charles is a farmer, and resides 
at Craftsbury, Vt. Jeremiah is a lawyer, residing at Han- 
nibal, Missouri. Arthur is a farmer at the old homestead 
in Orford. He is a worthy citizen, and a Representative 
of the town in the State Legislature. Harriet married 
George P. Marston, and resides at Fort Atkinson, Wis- 
consin. 



The following sketch of another branch of the Marston 
family, was furnished by Stephen Marston, Esq., of Hart- 
ford, Conn. Stephen Marston is one of the noble spirits 
that have gone out from Orford, and is highly respected in 
the city of his adoption. He is an extensive lumber mer- 
chant, and very successful in business. 

My father, Thomas Marston, was born in Hampton, N. 
H. His ancestors were among the first settlers of that 
old town, and were from the same family of Capt. Jere- 
miah Marston of your town, also those in Fairlee, bearing 
the same name. They were good citizens, industrious 
and honest, and of an obliging disposition, more often 
sinned against than sinning against others, and it was hard 
to say no to any calls for charity made to them. My father, 
when a young man, purchased a lot of land near Mount 
Cube, for a farm. On the opposite side of the road where 



120 

the house he built now stands, a man by the name of Por- 
ter lived in a log hut. One night, Porter was awakened 
by a great outcry from his pig-pen, and on looking out, he 
saw a huge bear deliberately walking off with one of his 
hogs between his fore paws. He immediately sprang out 
of bed, and without stopping to dress, seized his ax, and 
gave chase to bruin, who was glad to drop his prize and 
make his escape. The hog was so much injured it was 
found necessary to kill it. Father had a field of wheat 
greatly injured by some animal, and set a gun loaded, in 
his path, and soon had the satisfaction of killing the des- 
troyer of his crops, which proved to be a large bear. 

Such were some of the incidents common with the early 
settlers of our town. My father died in May, 1841, aged 
68 years. My mother's maiden name was Hannah Mer- 
rell. Her father, John Merrell, held a Sergeant's com- 
mission under Capt. Post, of your town, who was killed 
at the battle of Bennington. The last time we saw him, 
nearly forty years since, he said in relation to that battle, 
that Col. Baum, the Hessian commander, had two artil- 
lery pieces, and our forces had none ; but Col. Stark had 
four men stationed behind some trees, as sharp-shooters, 
and when one of their artillery men swung his match to 
discharge his piece, he was shot dead, and when several 
had been shot that way, they abandoned their pieces, and 
they were afterwards taken loaded. Col. Baum, when he 
found the fortunes of the day were likely to go against 
him, resolved to make one more effort to win the day, and 
for that purpose put himself at the head of his men, and 
ordered them to draw their sabres, and advance on our 
forces. He immediately received a mortal wound, and 
fell. My grandfather and another man stepped forward to 
take him prisoner ; but lie was for asserting his dignity, 
and says, " I am a nobleman born." Grandfather replies ? 
"Had you remained in your own country, you could be a 



121 

nobleman still ; but you are my prisoner now." We 
think he said it was in that charge that Capt. Post received 
his mortal wound. This battle, not great in numbers en- 
gaged, was great in results, as it was the first check Bur- 
guoyne received, and contributed much towards his final 
surrender. One word in relation to the battle of Benning- 
ton. Probably no one event, save the surrender of Corn- 
wallis, contributed more to our national independence than 
that, for had Burguoyne seized the provisions stored there, 
he would have been able to hold out until he could have 
formed a junction with the forces under Sir Henry Clinton, 
and then the plans of the British Ministry would have 
been consummated, to divide the Eastern from the South- 
ern and Middle states. Our recognition by the French 
Government followed the surrender of Burguoyne. 

My mother, who is now living, was seven weeks old when 
her father enlisted. Grandfather Merrellwas a man of no 
ordinary stamp. Having no advantages for education, he 
became his own teacher, and educated himself, and was 
well informed send possessed of good common sense. He 
was a patriot. In the war of 1812, when over 60 years of 
age, he volunteered, and served two years in the army, as 
Captain most of the time. He died in February, 1839 
aged 87 years and six months. My grandmother lived to 
be 98 years and six months. Mother, who is now living, 
and quite well, is in her 89th year. She had a brother 
who died last year, aged 90. My brothers and sisters have 
all died young. Of nine children, none excepting myself, 
have attained to the age of 36 years. John Merrell, be- 
fore referred to, was born in Haverhill, Mass. At the time 
of his enlistment under Capt. Post, he lived at Haverhill, 
N. H., or Newbury, Vt., we are not sure which. After the 
close of the Revolutionary War, he removed to Brunswick, 
Vt., where he died. 



122 



MERRILL 



The following letter contains all the information of the 
Merrill family in the hands of the Committee, and is there- 
fore inserted in this place. 

Nashua, December 2, 1865. 
Mrs. Stephen Merrill: 

Stephen Merrill, your husband's great-grandfather, lived 
and died in Boxford, Mass. He was a farmer, and lived to 
a good old age, bearing a most excellent 'character. His 
wife's given name was Keziah — a good woman and notable 
house-keeper. 

They had five children — three sons and two daughters. 
Their names were Asa, Jesse, Stephen, Betsey and Mehit- 
able. His second son, Jesse, married Phebe Pearl. They 
lived in Salem, N. H. He was a farmer, likewise, and had 
four children, Timothy, Richard, Elizabeth and Dorcas, 
(the present Mrs. John Gage). Timothy, the eldest son, 
married Marcia Gage, daughter of Josiah Gage, Esq., who 
was brother to Benjamin Gage, who was father to the pres- 
ent John Gage, making your husband's mother, Marcia, 
and father Gage, own cousins. Timothy Merrill and fam- 
ily moved to Orford, mother thinks, in 1794, and was fol- 
lowed in the year 1802, by his father, Jesse Merrill, with 
the rest of his family, and in company with John Gage. 

They settled in the middle of the town, on the farm now 
occupied by Nathaniel Russell. Jesse Merrill moved twice 
after that, and died in the house occupied at the present 
time by Henry Perrin. He died fifty years ago, on Janu- 
ary 1st, 1816, aged 73. Rather singularly, his birth and 
death occurred at the same hour, on Sunday, the first day 
of the week, and the first day of the first month of the 
year. 

Timothy's family was large. He had seven sons and 



123 

four daughters, Jesse, Richard, Josiah, Asa, Phebe, Martha, 
Mercy, Abigail, Pearl, Silas and Stephen, who is the last 
remaining of the family in Orford. 

Yours, 

M. A. GAGE. 

By way of correction, the following is added to the 
above letter: 

44 There were nine sons in Timothy Merrill's family. 
Jeremiah is omitted in the letter. He was twin brother to 
Josiah. Timothy, another of the brothers, is not men- 
tioned. It must have been before 1794 that they moved 
to Orford, as all the children were born here, the oldest 
in 1788. A. T. MERRILL." 



MOREY. 

Gen. Israel Morey was born at Hebron, Conn., May 27th, 
1735. Died at Orford, August 10th, 1809. 

He was married to Martha Palmer, at Hebron, Conn., 
July 14th, 1757, who was born May 4th, 1733, and died at 
Fairlee, Vt., January 12th, 1810. Removed with his fam- 
ily to Orford, January, 1766. They made the long, te- 
dious and toilsome journey with an ox team — the wife 
carrying in her arms an infant of six months. Settled on 
the farm afterwards occupied by Capt. Joseph Pratt, now 
owned by Tillotson and Cushman. The house was stand- ' 
ing until within a few years. He procured a charter for 
the first ferry across the Connecticut, which was located 
at that place. Afterwards removed to Fairlee, and was an 
extensive owner of timber lands. He built the mills on the 
Pond Brook — the first in town. Returned to Orford, and 
erected a dwelling, where now stands the house of the late 
Judge Wilcox. 



124 



He had seven children, Israel Morey, born at Hebron, 
Conn., June 10, 1760, and died at Orford, January 25? 
1820. The only survivor of that branch of the family, is 
Geo. A. Morey, Esq., residing at Pairlee. Capt. Samuel 
Morey, born at Hebron, Conn., October 23, 1762, and died 
at Fairlee, Yt., April 17, 1843. His wife was Hannah 
Avery. The only daughter married Hon. Leonard Wilcox. 
Moulton Morey, born at Hebron, Conn., July 4, 1765 ; died 
at Fairlee, Vt. Graduated at Dartmouth College in 1789 ; 
was a lawyer, and for some years, judge of the Orange 
County court. Of a large family, the only one living is 
Samuel P. Morey Esq., a resident of Fairlee, Yt. Darius 
L. Morey, born at Orford, August 5, 1771. Died at Fair- 
lee, Yt., July 25, 1825. Martha Morey, born at Orford, 
December 20, 1767. She was the first female child born 
in town. Married Simon B. Bissell, Esq. Sarah Morey, 
born at Orford, November 6, 1777 ; married Dr. Edward 
Tudor. Died at Middlebury, Yt. William Pitt Morey, 
born at Orford, November 6, 1774 ; died January 28, 1807. 



HOWARD. 

William Howard, son of Yv 7 illiam and Martha Howard, 
was born at New London, Conn., May 20, 1775 ; he well 
recollected witnessing the burning of New London by the 
British and the surrender of Fort Grisworld, where the 
garrison was brutally massacred by the victors. Col. Led- 
yard being run through the body with his own sword after 
handing it to the commander of the British forces. At 
the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to learn the hat- 
ting business at Norwich, flonii., where he remained until 
21 years of age. He came to* Orford in 1799, and com- 
menced the manufacture of hats, which he successfully 



125 

prosecuted for many years. He bore the reputation of an 
industrious, honest, worthy citizen, with uncommon energy 
and perseverance, and no aspiration for public preferment. 
His highest ambition was to attain success in his legiti- 
mate employment, that he might contribute to the prosper- 
ity and happiness of those dependent upon him, and the 
general welfare. 

He was selectman of the town, and for thirty years, post- 
master. He died October 20, 1848, at the age of 74 years. % 
He was twice married, — first to Betsey Pierce, July 5, 
1802, who was born in Chester, N. H., in 17T5, and died 
September 20, 1819. They had seven children, William, 
Henry Hampstead, Elizabeth Martha, Mary Pierce, James 
Pierce, John and Nancy. 

William married Sarah E. Page, of Sharon, Vt. He is 
a merchant, and resides at Orford. Henry H., Mary P., 
and John are residents of Orford. Elizabeth M. married 
Edward M. Bissell, and died January 10, 1845. Nancy died 
June 5, 1847. James P. was a lawyer by profession, and 
died at San Francisco,. Cal., January 12, 1850. 

Mr. Howard's second marriage was to Abigail Stratton, 
of Fairlee, Vt., June 13, 1820. They had five children, 
Louisa, Thomas, Sarah, George and Jane. Louisa died 
May 1, 1843 ; Sarah died June 20, 1848 ; George died at 
Natchez, Miss. Thomas resides at Orford. Jane married 
Daniel G. Corliss, and is a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The name of Howard has always commanded great re- 
spect and influence in the town. 



126 
PALMER. 

Four of this name were among the early settlers of Or- 
ford — Ichabod, the date of whose coming to the town I am 
unable to learn ; Moses, who came in 1773 or 1774 ; Na- 
than, who came about the same time, and Nathaniel, who 
came in the spring of 1789. Of Ichabod Palmer, I have 
very little definite information. He was a nephew of 
Moses Palmer, and cousin of Nathan and Nathaniel. He 
married Esther Strong. 

Moses Palmer was born in Eastern, Connecticut, in 1726. 
He first settled in Warren, Conn., and moved to Orford 
after the birth of his four children. He died at Orford, in 
1819, aged 93. 

Nathan Palmer, a nephew of Moses, was born in East- 
ern, Conn. Soon after coming to Orford, he married 
Jemima Strong, of Lyme. About the time Nathaniel 
Palmer, came to Orford, Nathan having sold out his prop- 
erty to Nathaniel, returned to Connecticut, and some ten 
years later, removed to Ohio. 

Nathaniel Palmer, an older brother of Nathan, was born 
at Scotland, Windham County, Conn., in 1742. His eight 
children, seven sons and one daughter, were all born in 
Connecticut, and came with him to Orford. He was an 
earnest, christian man, and occupied a prominent position 
in the infant church of his adopted town. I find his name 
in the list of those who protested against the doctrinal er- 
rors of Rev. Mr. Forsyth. He died at Orford in 1815, 
aged 73. 

The descendants of Moses and Nathaniel Palmer have 
many of them, been found among the most thoroughly re- 
spected citizens of Orford. 

Moses Palmer left one son, Moses. His grandsons Asa 
and Moses Palmer, remained in Orford. Moses died some 
years since. The last years of his life, he was the un- 



127 

happy victim of incurable blindness. His only child, a 
daughter, is settled in Massachusetts. Asa Palmer is still 
living near Orfordville,the father of a large family of worthy 
and enterprising sons and daughters — himself one of the 
few remaining "pillars of the church" at Orfordville. Sev- 
eral of his children are in Massachusetts. One is now en- 
gaged in the study of medicine, and one, Asa Burton, 
whose pointed and most excellent address to the children^ 
Centennial day, none can have forgotten, is now on 
the paternal homestead, and one of the most intelligent 
farmers of his native town. The earlier years of his man- 
hood he spent in teaching in Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, a 
chosen profession, for which he was admirably fitted, which 
ill health compelled him to abandon. 

Jared Palmer, the oldest son of Nathaniel, lived in Or- 
ford, to the advanced age of 87 years. For nearly half a 
century, he was a deacon in the Orfordville church, and at 
all times, an active christian. He was always at his post 
in religious meetings, week days as well as Sundays ; and 
often selected as a delegate to ecclesiastical councils. 
None of his numerous descendants remain in Orford. He 
was the father of eleven children, six of whom are still liv- 
ing. His surviving son, Samuel Palmer, is a well known 
citizen and christian man in Cambridgeport, Mass. 

Calvin Palmer, second son of Nathaniel, spent consider- 
able part of his life in northern New Hampshire, where he 
died in 1850. One of his sons, Alexander, has recently 
lived at Lisbon — an estimable citizen, superintendent of the 
Sabbath School, <fec, &c. 

Stephen Palmer, third son of Nathaniel, came to Orford 
with his parents, when a boy of thirteen or fourteen years, 
and from that time retained the same home — the farm first 
purchased by his father, till the last day of his life. He 
died in 1857, at the age of 81 years. During the greater 
part of his life, he was well known up and down the Con- 



128 

necticut river, as the efficient builder of the heavy-tim- 
bered bridges common at that time. He was the father of 
two children. His daughter died at 18. His son, William 
S. Palmer, having graduated at Dartmouth College in 1853, 
and taught several years indifferent institutions in New 
England and Ohio, is now settled in the ministry at Wells 
River, Vt., an honor to his church and his profession. 

Elijah Palmer, fourth son of Nathaniel, spent most of 
his life in Orford, dividing his time between farming and 
mechanical labor. His home was in Quintown through 
the years of his greatest activity. When an old man, he 
removed to Wentworth, with his youngest son. When 
about 80 years old, he became a member of the Congre- 
gational church, at Piermont. He died in 1854, aged 82. 
Only one of his sons is still living in Orford, Austin Palmer, 
for some years past selectman and justice of the peace, 
and he has recently purchased the celebrated Hazen farm 
in Newbury, Yt. Nathaniel Palmer, his oldest son, died 
when a young man, at Orford ; not, however, until he had 
won an enviable reputation, as a man of remarkable ge- 
nius and signal general intelligence. 

John N. Palmer is in Wisconsin. E. West Palmer died 
some years since, in Boston. George Palmer is in Nashua, 
and Henry is a very successful farmer in Piermont. Hor- 
ace Palmer, fifth son of Nathaniel, spent his life in Orford, 
most of it in the West Parish. He died in 1856, aged 76. 
He was the father of eleven children — none of whom have 
resided in Orford for several years. One son, I believe, is 
in New York, and one in Minnesota. Two daughters are 
in Minnesota, and three in Massachusetts. 

Clara Palmer, the only daughter of Nathaniel, was mar- 
ried to a Mr. Hosford, and removed to Bath. Her son, 
Elisha Hosford, died in Kentucky ; and her daughter is 
now Mrs. Dr. Hosford, of Orford — the only descendant, of 
Nathaniel Palmer who has, at present, a permanent home 



129 

in the town of his adoption, withal, a most worthy repre- 
sentative of the family. 



NEWELL. 

John Newell was born in Salem, Mass., January 31, 
1768 ; married Eunice Corliss, of Alexander, Mass., Sept. 
1, 1791, and moved to Orford and bought a farm in the 
East part of the town, where he resided for nearly sixty 
years. In 1851, he went to Woodstock, 111., where he died 
at the age of 90 years and 5 months. He lived more than 
60 years a worthy christian, always cheerful and contented, 
ever ready to speak a word in behalf of the christian cause. 
His wife died about three years after, at the age of 89. 
Amidst the changes and sorrows of a long life, she had the 
cheering presence of her Savior. They had twelve chil- 
dren — three died in infancy. John, Eunice and Lorensa 
are now living. Lucy married Benjamin Finney, a farmer. 
Emily married James Hutchins, a merchant at Woodstock, 
111. Daniel went to New York City, and married Annala- 
nah Richie, he was the pastor of a Presbyterian Church 
some twenty years, when ill health compelled him to seek 
other employment, and he became the proprietor and edi- 
tor of the Family Circle and Parlor Annual. David mar- 
red a Miss Hall, moved to New York, as a broker and bank- 
er. Sally married William Stetson, of Orford, a farmer. 
Benjamin married Polly Fifield,and lived in Piermont, N. 
H., as a carriage maker. Eunice married Samuel Niles, of 
Orford, a farmer. Mrs. Niles married for her second hus- 
band, M. Ramsey, and now reside in Woodstock, 111. Lo- 
rensa married Porter Cutting, and lives in Woodstock, 111. 
John, Jr., married Betsey Stetson, of Lyme, N. H., and in 



130 

1821, purchased a farm near his father's in Orford, upon 
which he lived till 1863, when he moved to Manchester, N. 
H., where they now live at an advanced age, frugal and 
industrious, and in the enjoyment of a good degree of health. 
They were the parents of six daughters, to whom they 
gave good advantages for education, and at the same time 
not neglecting to impart to them useful and practical les- 
sons in house-keeping. One thing is worthy of note, that 
of the family gathering during the month of August, which 
has been observed for more than 20 years, and is still 
kept up, much to the pleasure of both, parents and chil- 
dren. Hattie A., married James Huse, lives in Enfield, N. 
H., manufacturer of bedsteads. Louise M., married G. 
W. Follansbee, lives in New York City, clerk at the 
Astor House. Lorensa S., married G. W. Boynton, lives 
in Manchester, N. H., watch maker and jeweller. Mary S., 
married B. Frank Niles, of Orford, a farmer, she died in 
Nov. 1862. Lizzie E., married Henry A. Gage, printer 
and publisher at Manchester, N. H. AnnaR., married H. 
A. Horton, and lives on the old Homestead in Orford. 



PRATT. 

My father was born in Salem, Mass., in 1745, and died 
in Orford, December 12th, 1832. He removed from Salem 
to Orford in 1792. The eastern part of Orford was then 
but partially settled. Our nearest neighbor, if I recollect 
right, was Col. Simpson, who then lived near where Judge 
Wilcox used to live, and where he died. There was then 
a one story meeting house between where the Universalist 
meeting house now stands, and the river. The Rev. Mr. 
Sawyer preached there when my father came to Orford. 
He died, I believe, at the age of 100 years. I believe the 
two eldest men then in Orford, were Deacon Strong, Mr. 



131 

E. Strong's grandfather, and Deacon Tillotson, Obadiah 
Tillotson's grandfather. 

At the time my father came to Orford, wolves and bears 
were quite plenty. My oldest brother, Joseph, went into 
the barn yard near the house one night, and found a wolf 
in the yard. At another time, two wolves came in the 
night, and carried off one of our sheep. 

There was no post office in Orford when my father came 
there. Gen. Pickering was Post Master General under 
Washington's administration. He was a near neighbor to 
my father, in Salem. He gave my father the post office 
for Orford ; but having much other business to attend to, 
he let Major John Mann the office, who kept it 'for a num- 
ber of years. 

My mother was born in the year 1743, and died in -Or- 
ford in 1809. I have frequently heard her relate the land- 
ing of the British troops in Salem, at the beginning of the 
Revolutionary War. Col. Leslie commanded the British 
troops. They were sent there by Gen. Gage, from Boston, 
with orders to take possession of the cannon known to be 
deposited there. The troops landed on Sunday, in the 
month of January. My father, I believe, was absent. 
The alarm was given by the beat of the drum. My mother 
was in the Rev. Mr. Bernard's meeting house when the 
alarm was given. As she turned the corner of the street 
to go home, she met Col. Leslie, with his troops, marching 
up. They halted near a house where a man lived, who 
was said to be a tory. The British troops were soon sur- 
rounded by two thousand people. My mother said the 
soldiers looked pale. The selectmen of salem asked Col. 
Leslie about his business in coming on the Sabbath day un- 
der arms. Pie told them that he had orders from Gen. 
Gage to take the cannon deposited there. They told him 
the cannon belonged to the state of Massachusetts, and he 
could not have them. In the meantime, the boats had 



132 

been rendered useless, and the bridge draw was up. Col. 
Leslie then marched down to the bridge, in order to cross 
and take the cannon. When he got on the bridge, and 
found he could not cross, he rode back in a rage, and said 
if they did not let down the draw, he would fire on the 
multitude that followed him down to the bridge. The 
head men of the town told him if he did fire on the people, 
not one of his men should go off the bridge alive. He 
then rode back and consulted his officers, and then came 
back and said if he did not obey the command of Gen. 
Gage, his head must come off; he also said if they would 
'Jet down the bridge, and let him pass so many rods from it, 
he would give his word and honor that he would turn back, 
and not meddle with the cannon, and would leave the town 
immediately. The draw bridge was then let down. He 
marched to the place, and wheeling around, took off his 
hat — bid the people good-bye, and left for Boston. 

My father made his first voyage on the ocean when he 
was fourteen years old. He continued in this employment 
about thirty years. He commanded a merchant vessel a 
number of years. After the Revolutionary War began, he 
was taken prisoner, by a British man-of-war. While a pris- 
oner, the vessel in which he was confined, had a running 
fight with a French man-of-war. The English Captain set 
him and the officers on Martha's Yineyard, near Boston, 
allowing him only what he could put into a chest. The 
rest of the crew were sent to Halifax. He afterwards took 
the command of a ship of war, called the Grand Turk, car- 
rying twenty guns, with a crew of 100 men. The vessel 
was owned and fitted out by Cap^ E. H. Derby, of Salem. 
He sailed in this vessel three years. He visited Biboa, in 
Spain, and was in the English Channel, but never landed 
in England. In the time of the Revolutionary War, a large 
English Frigate kept cruising near Massachusetts Bay, and 
had taken many American vessels — sending their crews to 



133 

Halifax. Before my father left Salem to go to sea, he 
heard that this man-of-war was cruising in Massachusetts 
Bay ; but as his ship was a fast sailing one, he was confi- 
dent he could outsail her, and escape, as he thought it 
would be hopeless to fight with so large a vessel of war. 
As he sailed out on a cruise, he came in sight of this large 
English Frigate that had taken so many American vessels. 
When my father came within hailing distance, the Captain 
of the English Frigate called out through his speaking 
trumpet : " You Yankee rascal, strike your flag, or I will 
blow you into the air." A favorable wind at that moment 
brought the Grand Turk, with her ten guns on a side, close 
to the Frigate. My father gave the word to be ready to 
fire. The Captain of the Frigate called out and said: 
"For God's sake, don't fire— if you do, you will sink us 
immediately." He then hauled down his flag, and then 
my father, followed by the marines, sprang on board of the 
Frigate. The Captain met him, and handed his sword to 
him. In the evening, the Grand Turk, with her prize, re- 
turned to Salem. 

One dark night, while sailing on a cruise, he came in 
sight of a man-of-war. He could judge of her size only by 
the lights she carried. The men on board his vessel were 
loth to engage her. My father thought he would see what 
she would do. He ordered the gun to fire to the right, 
then to the left of the vessel, and then to fire as near as he 
could, right into the center of the vessel. The light of 
the man-of-war then went up, as a signal to fire ; but they did 
not fire, and hauled down their flag. When they came to 
see the size of my father's vessel, they exclaimed — " We are 
kidnapped." The prize was then brought safe into Salem. 

Three of my father's family died in infancy. My oldest 
brother died in Orford. Jonathan died in Providence, R. 
I., in 1847. Henry died in 1827, and Margaret in 1859. 

NATHANIEL PRATT. 



134 
PHELPS. 

Samuel Phelps was born at Hebron, Conn., July 6th, 
1742, and died May 2d, 1815. Married to Lydia Morey, 
of Lebanon. Conn., May, 1764. She died January 23d, 
1832. They lived together in the marriage relation, more 
than fifty years. Came to Orford in April 1771. They 
had thirteen children — Samuel, born December 2d, 1776 ; 
was three times married, first to Patience Cook ; second to 
Fanny Stevens, third to Anna Bartholomew. They had 
eight children, one died in infancy. Three are now living. 
Anna married Oliver Mitchell, and resides in Orford. Ab- 
ner, a lawyer, resident of San Francisco, Cal., and Tim- 
othy B., who resides in Lyme. 

Benona, born March 31st, 1768 ; died February 1st, 
1770. Benona, born June 21st, 1775; died July 22d, 
1775. Joel, married Saphronia Dodge ; died September 
1st, 1822. Nathaniel, born September 18th, 1780 ; died 
27th of the same month. Nathaniel, born July 4th, 1782, 
and died a few years since. George Morey, born January 
2d,, 1788, and died a few years since, at Hill, N. H. He 
was a lawyer, and was twice married, first to Lydia Thurs- 
ton, and second to Sarah W. Fitch. He had six children 
by his first wife, and one by the second. 

Orenda, born April 10th, 1765. Married Samuel Bliss, 
and died November 27th, 1821. They had ten children. 

Bridget, born October 26th 1769 ; died August 13th, 
1842. She married Joseph Archer. They had ten chil- 
dren — five of whom died in infancy. 

Lydia, born August 9th 1771. Married Hazel Russ, 
and died October 26th, 1840. They had eight children. 

Mary, born June 20th, 1773 ; died Setember 1st, 1774. 
Assenett married Thomas Stevens, born May 13th, 1777 ; 
died February 1st 1835. They had nine children, three of 
whom died in infancy. 



135 

Mary, born April 30th 1774 ; died a few years since. 
Married Joseph Dutton. 



QUINT 



Benjamin Quint came to Orford in 1792, and settled in 
the easterly part of the town, called Quinttown, from 
whom it derived its name. He raised a large family. 
Some of his descendants are now residents of Orford. 
He was in the war of the Revolution, and served with 
John Paul Jones ; was aboard the Bon Homme Richard 
in the action with the Serapis. He died many years since 
at an advanced age. 



ROGERS. 

Nathaniel Rogers, a son of Rev. John Rogers, minister 
at Boxford, Mass., was born JuneJ, 1718 ; was graduated 
at Harvard College ; settled at Leominster, Mass., as a 
farmer; removed to Orford, N. H., in 1770, and was alive 
in 1784. 

Nathaniel Rogers, son of the preceding, was born at 
Leominster, about 1750 ; came to Orford about 1770, and 
died October 11, 1820. He was a farmer, and was many 
years one of the selectmen of the town. He was a ser- 
geant in the army of the American Revolution, in the 
company commanded by Capt. Jonathan Chandler, in the 
regiment commanded by Col. Jonathan Chase. He bore 
a high character for integrity and sound judgment. His 
wife was Eunice Allen. She survived him many years, 
and died at an advanced age. He left five children, John, 
Hannah, James, Eunice and Charles. 



136 

John Rogers, son of the preceding, was born May 11, 
1782, and married Lucy Swinerton, May 8, 1810. He was 
a lawyer several years, and afterwards retired from prac- 
tice, and became a farmer. He was for many years a se- 
lectman of the town, and a representative to the state leg- 
islature. His wife died December 5, 1856, aged 77. He 
died December 28, 1859, also at the age of 77. He had 
six children, John, George, Charles, William, Louisa and 
Edward. 

Hannah married Heman Ford, of Piermont, N. H., by 
whom she had thirteen children : Alden, John, James, 
Lucy, Hannah, Charles, Absalom, Heman, Mary, Eunice, 
Belinda, Almira, and a second John. 

James married Joanna Dewey, by whom he had four 
children, Eunice, Rhoda, Nathaniel and Samuel. He died 
about thirtyyears since. Nathaniel is a mason, residing in 
Fairlee, Vt. Samuel is a clergyman of the Dutch Re- 
formed Church, in Michigan. 

Eunice married Timothy Sargent, of Orford, and had 
five children, Eunice, Nathaniel, Hannah, Ellen and Tim- 
othy. Nathaniel, who is now the post master at Orford, 
is the only survivor. He is married. 

Charles married Amelia Ramsey, and is still living at 
Bradford, Vt. He had seven children. 

Of the children of John Rogers, named above, John was 
born January 10, 1811. He is a farmer, and still lives at 
Orford. He has also filled the offices of selectman and re- 
presentative to the state legislature. He married Eunice 
Ford, and has two children, Alice and Charles. 

George was born November 29, 1812 ; went to New 
York city when he was about 21 ; and falling ill of con- 
sumption, went to Mobile for his health, and died on board 
ship in Mobile Bay, February 4, 1837. 

Charles was born February 8, 1815. He is an artist, 
and resides in San Francisco, California, where he is mar- 



137 

ried. William was born April 4, 1817. He is a lawyer, 
living in Boston. He married Margaret Mitchell, and after 
her death, Ellen Mary Gavett, and after her death, Nancy 
Rebecca Holmes. His children are five: Walter F., Mary 
Ellen, Edwin A., George E. and Ida. 

Lonisa was born October 17, 1821, and died of consump- 
tion, June 19, 1842. 

Edward was born January 17, 1825. He served in the 
army of the United States, in the war of the rebellion, and 
was commissioned a Lieutenant of colored troops. 

Of the children of Heman and Hannah Ford, named 
above, Alden is a farmer, and lives in Orford. He married 
Sally Phelps, and has had four children, Abraham, Alden, 
Absalom and Edward. 

Eunice was married to John Rogers, Jr., as abovestated. 

The first Nathaniel Rogers named abore, was a son of 
Rev. John Rogers, of Boxford. His brother, named John, 
was minister at Leominister, Mass. Hi's grandfather was 
Jeremiah Rogers, of Salem, who died in 1729 or 1730. 
Jeremiah was a nephew or grand nephew of Rev. John 
Rogers, who was president of Harvard College in 1682. 
The father of the latter was Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, of Ips- 
wich, Mass., who was son of Rev. John Rogers, of Dedham, 
England. The last named John Rogers died in 1639, and 
was said to be a grandson of John Rogers, the martyr, who 
was burned at Smithfield, in Queen Mary's reign, February 
14, 1555. 



SIMPSON. 

Col. William Simpson was born at Portsmouth, N. H. 
For some years was in command of a vessel in the West 
India trade. He came to Orford at an early day. Was 
quite an extensive land owner. Of commanding and dig- 

M 



138 

nified bearing, he was a very prominent man in town — 
acting for many successive years as moderator of town 
meetings, and filled various town offices, and was for a 
number of years a representative in the Legislature. He 
died at Portsmouth, at an old age. 



TILLOTSON. 

Daniel Tillotson was born in England, April 1, 1721. 
He came to this country early in life ; married Mindwell 
Hosford, and settled in Connecticut. He was a descendant 
from John Tillotson, an Engbish prelate, who was born near 
Halifax, in 1630. John Tillotson is well known in history 
as an eminent preacher and divine, a man of great ability, 
and whose spirit and christian views were remarkably lib- 
eral for his time. Notwithstanding he opposed the king, 
Charles II, in some of his declarations, and gave utter- 
ance to doctrines not in strict accordance with the creed 
of the popular church, at one time " openly preaching a 
sermon before the queen against the absolute eternity of 
hell torments," still he held high positions in the church ; 
was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, and ever had a 
wide influence in the church, and upon the religious opin- 
ions of the age. He died of a paralytic stroke, in 1694. 

His biographer says of him : — " Dr. Tillotson was open, 
sincere, benevolent and forgiving ; and although in some 
points too compliant, and liable to the charge of incon- 
sistency, his intentions seem to have been pure and disin- 
terested. His sermons maintain a place among the most 
popular of that class of composition in the English lan- 
guage, displaying great copiousness of thought and ex- 
pression, and abounding with passages which strongly im- 
press the mind." 

Daniel Tillotson was a man of strong religious character, 



139 

an officer in the church for many years, and was esteemed 
as one of the " shining lights therein." He was a man of 
of great strength of character and purpose, and a most 
estimable citizen. He was the father of a large family — 
whose names follow in order : — Mindwell, Deborah, Dan- 
iel, Martha, Anna, Lydia, Aseneth and Amelia. 

Mindwell married Dr. Samuel Hale ; Deborah married 
Col. Frye Bailey ; Daniel married Mary Sawyer ; Martha 
married Theodore Dame ; Anna married Samuel Cole ; 
Lydia married John Hale ; Aseneth married Timothy Sar- 
gent ; Amelia married Alexander Strong. 

The above were all farmers except Dr. Hale, and all set- 
tled in Orford save Col. Bailey, who lived in Newbury, Yt. 

The second Daniel Tillotson was born in Hebron, Conn., 
in 1750. He came to Orford about the year 1768, and 
soon after married the daughter of Thomas Sawyer, as 
mentioned above. He was one of the substantial and in- 
fluential men of the town, possessed of many virtues, and 
great force of character. The following are the names of 
his children, only one of whom is now living, viz : — Mary, 
John Morris, Daniel, Deborah, Samuel, Susannah, Mind- 
well, Obadiah, Hepsibali and Thomas Sawyer. 

Mary married Jesse Cole ; John M. married for his first 
wife, widow Cargill, and for his second, Eliza Sabin ; Dan- 
iel married Abigail Bailey ; Deborah married Increase 
Batchelder ; Samuel married Betsey Wallace ; Obadiah 
married Betsey Marshall ; Hepsibah married Thomas Sav- 
age ; Thomas S. married Abigail Stevens. 

The above were mostly farmers, with the exception of 
John M., who was a lawyer, and resident in the upper part 
of the state. Susannah died in 1797 ; Mindwell died in 
1860. 

The third Daniel Tillotson, who married Abigail Bailey, 
a most estimable woman, lived and died on the old home- 
stead in Orford, where his only son now resides. He was 



140 

a man of sterling character, great business capacity, and 
influential in the town. 

Obadiah Tillotson, the only member of the family living, 
resides at Orford, with his daughter, Mrs. Corliss. He is 
the oldest person living in Orford, who was born in the 
town. Venerable in years, having outlived his generation, 
he is waiting the summons to join those who have gone be- 
fore him. He has finished his work, and is ready to de- 
part. Betsey Marshall, his wife, was born in Northumber- 
land in 1784, and died in Orford in 1852. She was a wo- 
man of true piety, noble nature, and a devoted, faithful 
mother. She endeavored to give her children a thorough 
moral and religious training. A large family was placed 
under the care of these parents. The following are the 
names of the children: Susannah M., Betsey, John M., 
Obadiah H., Bradley P., Benjamin M., Sarah S., William 
G., George AY., Daniel 0., Charles H. and Mary H. 

Win.' G. and Daniel 0. died in infancy. Mary H. died 
at the age of four years. George W. died at the age of 
sixteen years. John M. married Betsey G. Sargent, and 
died at Orford in 1848. She lives at Nashua, and has two 
children, John and Mary. Obadiah H. married Rosamond 
D. Corliss, and died at Northlield, Vt., in June, 1863. He 
was a preacher of the gospel, and had been settled over 
several societies, to all of which he ministered with ability 
and success. 

Betsey resides with her sister Corliss, at Orford. 

Bradley P. married Laura Ripley, and is a farmer re- 
siding at Hanover. 

Sarah S. married Ebenezer C. Woodbury, and resides at 
Orford. 

Charles H. married Lauretta G. Woodbury, and resides 
at Orford. 

Benjamin M. married Corrilla W. Butler, of St. Johns- 
bury, Yt. After completing his studies at Meriden, N. H., 



141 

and Newbury, Vt., and teaching two or three years, he en- 
tered the ministry, and has been settled in Manchester, N. 
H., over a large society, more than twenty years ; all but 
two years of his ministry, or a little more, during which 
time he was settled over a large society in Philadelphia. 
He has two sons, Edward M., and Prank B. Tillotson. 

Mrs. Elizabeth M. Chad wick, daughter of John M., re- 
sides at Fair port, Monroe Co., N. Y. 

Martha, of New York, and William, Mary and James of 
Warren, Vt., are the children of Samuel. 

Mrs. Mary Gordon, of Whitefield, Mrs. Amanda Tillot- 
son, of Orford, and Charles 0., of Freemont, Ohio, are the 
children of Thomas. 

D. Frye Tillotson, son of Daniel, who married Amanda, 
now lives at Orford, and is one of the most enterprising 
and successful business men in the town. His father left 
him a handsome property, to which he has made large ad- 
ditions. He is widely known as a business man, and es- 
teemed for his activity and enterprise, and his many social 
qualities. He has one son. 



WHEELER. 

Capt. John Brooks Wheeler removed from Grafton, Vt., 
to Orford, in 1806. Engaged extensively in merchantile 
pursuits, which he prosecuted very successfully for many 
years. By energy and persevrence, with uncommon 
financial ability, he accumulated a fortune seldom realized 
in a country business. He was a prominent and influen- 
tial citizen — filling acceptably, many responsible offices, 
and represented the town in the state legislature. He died 
August 26, 1842. Mrs. Wheeler died soon after his re- 
moval to Orford. His sons were graduates of Dartmouth 



142 

College. John Wheeler, an eloquent and distinguished 
clergyman, was some years settled at Windsor, Vt., after- 
wards president of Vermont University. He died at Bur- 
lington, Vt., a few years since. 

David Everett Wheeler, a member of the legal profes- 
sion, held in high esteem not only as an able and success- 
ful lawyer, but for his many genial social qualities, has re- 
sided for many years in New York ; and is still in active 
business, associated with his son, Everett P. Wheeler, a 
young man of rare ability and much promise. The eldest 
daughter married John Francis, Esq., of Royalton, Vt. 
He died some years since. She now resides at Burlington. 

The second daughter was the wife of Stedman Willard, 
Esq., of Orford. She died May 8, 1837. The youngest, a 
much beloved and accomplished young lady, died February 
15, 1827, at the age of 19 years. 

The second Mrs. Wheeler was a model lady, with all the 
virtues so nicely blended, it could hardly be known which 
shown most conspicuous. It was often said that suffering 
and want never left her door unrelieved. She died at 
New York, May 6, 1853. A daughter, Mrs. Brodhead, the 
counterpart of her mother, is a resident of New York. 



143 



Soldiers from Orford who served in the late War. 



Gen. Gilman Marston, — 
Maj. Frederick M. Edgell, 

THIRD REGIMENT. 

DhiTI W. Baker, * 
Peter Craigie, 
Amasa Niles, * 
Geo. M Phelps, — * 
John C. Speed, 
Wm. Wilson, 
Thos. Milar, * 
Abram Paradise, * 
Julius H. Griggs, — 
Murdock Mclvor. 

FIFTH REGIMENT. 

Capt. Asa B. Griggs, — 
Abel S. Hubbard. * 
John A. Baker, 
Joseph Caraway, 
D. H. Collins, * 
Geo. W. Fifield, — 
Octave Laboor, 
Geo. G. Leslie, 
Geo. W. Merrill, — 
Wm. H. Nichols, — 
Geo. M. Poor, 
Albert Sanders, — * 
Luther Smith, 
Frank Tallman, 
Wm. S. Learned, — 
Joseph Quint. * — 

EIGHTH REGIMENT. 

Dan'1 A. Lamprey, — * 
Hollis K. May. 

NINTH REGIMENT. 

Lieut. 0. P. Newcomb, — 
Cyrus M. Roberts, — 
Frank Lovejoy, — * 
Chas. Jeffers, — 
Peter Shuman, 



Chas. W. Carter, 
Sam'l Blood, Jr., — 
Geo. Cross, * 
Edward J. Dayton, — 
Henry W. Archer, # — 
Alphonso Adams. 
Josiah L. Archer, * — 
Edwin Archer, — 
Wm. M. Shawnee. 

ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 

Isbon N. Ames, — 
Chas. M. Lovejoy, — 
Henry S. Muchmore, — 
Alonzo D. Muchmore, — 
Byron G. Kenyon, 
Edwin C. Niles, * 
Edwin T. Parker, 
Benjamin Muchmore. — 

FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. 

Dan'l W. Phelps. * — 

SIXTEENTH REGIMENT. 

Thos. A. Gilmore, 
Ranson Griggs, — 
Wm. H. Horton, 
Chas. M. Avery, 
Enoch P. Smith, — 
Philander C. Cutting, — 
Charles Baker, * 
Alphonso Palmer, * — 
Alonzo Stark, * — 
Josiah L. Bailey, * 
John L. Howard, — * 
Absalom Ford, — * 
Frederick Robinson, 
Alden Stevens, 
John Caraway. * 

EIGHTEENTH REGIMENT. 

Lieut. Henry P. Gage, — 
Stephen C. Blood, — 



144 



PanTA. Blood, — 
Edwin Bugbee, 
John Bell, 
Frank J. Bell, 
John E. Chesley, 
Geo. E. Learned , — 
Henry B. Reed, 
Dan'l Y. Simpson, — 
Charles C. Tallman, — 
Webster P. Modgett, — 
Henry B. Derby, * — 
John C. Mitchell, 
Henry A. Horton, 
John F. Rush, 
Geo. P. Martin, 
Peter White, 
A. D Chamberlin, 
H. W. Davis. 

UNITED STATES SHARPSHOOTERS. 

Geo. W. Lamprey. 

VERMONT REGIMENTS. 

Dan'l T. Davis, * 
Frank M. Davis, 
Win. Stetson, — 
Edward Simons, * — 
Walter Horton, 
John N. Stetson, — 
Nathan H. Archer, — 
Stillman Archer, — * 
Francis E. Derby, — 
Geo. K. Morris. — 



Shephard Whitmore. — 

N. H. BATTERY. 

Geo. Lane. 

VERMONT ARTILLERY. 

Joseph Caraway. 

FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS. 

Tallis Caraway. 

VERMONT CAVALRY. 

John Caraway, # 
A. H. Gage. — 

1ST MASS. HEAVY ARTILLERY. 

James M. Learned, Jr., — 
Jonas G. Learned. * — 

MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT. 

Hiram Fuller, — 
Thomas Ames. — 

ILLINOIS REGIMENT. 

Albert Albee . — 

WESTERN REGIMENT. 

Harry Ames, — 
Wm Lane, — * 
Charles Lane. — 



Those marked with a—, are natives of Orford. Those marked with a *, died in 
the service . 



Graduates op Dartmouth College, and time of Grad- 
uating. 



1796, Samuel Hale, 
1794, James Hobart, 

John P. Kimball, 
1806, Cyrus Mann, 

Lewis Mann, 
1785, John Sawyer, 
1796, John M. Tillotson, 

James P. Howard, 



1807, Hon. Leonard Wilcox, 
1816, John Wheeler, 

1827, D. E. Wheeler, 
1840, Alex. S. Wheeler, 
1860, Charles Wheeler, 

1828, Dan'l C. Blood, 
Ralph W. Cole, 

1865, H. J. Cushman, 



145 



Sylvester Dana, 
Charles B. Dana, 
Theo. S. Dana, 
John C. Hale, 
Edwin B. Hale, 
Schiller Hosford, 
Jesse Johnson, 
Sam'l M. Lovejoy, 
Joel Mann, 
Royal Mann, 



1839, 

1828, 

1857, 
1865, 
1866, 
1863, 
1857, 
1810, 
1829, 

Those with no dates to their names entered Dartmouth, but graduated at other 
Colleges. 



1837, Gilman Marston, 
1843, Jeremiah Marston, 
1853, Wm. S. Palmer, 
1862, Charles Palmer, 
1857, James B. Richardson, 

Biger Stone, 
1847, Samuel M. Wilcox, 
1860, George Wilcox, 
1865, Leonard Wilcox. 



The following were among the early settlers of Orford 



Timothy Sargent, 
Rev. Samuel Todd, 
Capt. Jonathan Derby, 
Clement Emery, 
Dr. Eli Carpenter, 
Asa Tyler, 

Capt. Ebenezer Baldwin, 
Constant Bliss, (killed by In- 
dians at Greensboro 1 Vt.) 
Capt. John Clark, 
Simeon Derby, 
Francis Follett, 
James Moulton, 



Elnathan Palmer, 
Samuel Thing, 
Dea. Michael Taintor, 
Joseph E. Ware, 
Richard Haselton, 
John Hale, 
Samuel Phelps, 
Jesse Poor. 
Jonathan Storey, 
Alex. Storey, 
Hardy Ropes, 
A. G. "Britten, 
John B. Wheeler. 



The Selectmen of the town at the present time are- 
Charles H. Riley, Austin Palmer and Daniel C. Clark. 



HENRY H. HOWARD. 
HENRY PERRIN, 
ARTHUR MARSTON, 



Committee, <fcc. 



STRONG. 

Jonathan Strong, one of the first settlers of Orford, was 
born at Bolton, Conn., May 19, 1725. Married Mary, 
daughter of Ebenezer Northam, of Colchester, Conn., 
Juno 8,1750. They had children: — Hannah, born July 
15, 1751, Mary, born November 25, 1752, Sarah, born July 
29, 1755, Esther, born November 3, 1758, Alexander, born 
January 15, 1761, and Jonathan, bom September 4, 1764. 
Mr. Strong moved his family to Orford June, 1772, and 
died September 17, 1807, in his 83d year. His wife died 
December 20, 1817, aged 93 years. 

Alexander Strong, Esq., son of Jonathan Strong, moved 
to Orford with his father in 1772, and was one of the most 
respectable men of the town. He died in the year 1836. 
Married Amelia Tillotson, of Orford, who died in the year 
1838. They had two children — Ebenezer N., born March 
23, 1785; Emily, born May 12, 1788. 

Ebenezer N. is now living on the old homestead, at the 
advanced age of eighty years. Has been one of the most 
prominent men of the town. Married Mira Bailey, June 
3, 1817, who died August 22, 1881. They had four chil- 
dren — EpliriamB., born August 31, 1819, Alexander, born 
September 4, 18.21, Amelia, born March 19, 18 £4, Lucy 
B., born May 23, 1827. Ephriam B. now resides with his 
father. Has held town offices for many years in succes- 
sion, and is now one of the sheriffs of Grafton County. 
He married Amanda J. Page, June 15, 1845. Has three 
children, Mary, born December 4, 1854, Emily W., born 
November 29, 1859, Charles, born July 23, 1861. 

Alexander married Lucinda Stone, December 18, 1850, 
He is one of the thriving farmers of the town. Has two 
children, Edward A., born April 3, 1852, Henry, born De- 
cember 26, 1864. Amelia now resides with her father, un- 
married. Lucy B. married Chester F. Ladd, of Bradford, 
Vt., May 24, 1849, who died January 27, 1853. Married 
for her second husband, Jerome B. Bailey, Esq., of Fairlee, 



Vt., June, 1855. Have one child, George W., bom 1859. 

Emily Strong, daughter of Alexander, married for her 
first husband, Daniel Wheeler, November 3, 1809, who died 
November 23, 1810. Had one child, Daniel Prescott, born 
September 2, 1810. Married for her second husband, Asa 
Wheeler, who died July 20, 1860, f she outliving both 
of her husbands, died February 28, 1861. They had 
three children, Alexander Strong, born August 7, 1820, 
Susan Emily, born June iO, 1822, John Lee, born October 
22,1824. Daniel P., son of Daniel and Emily, has always 
been a resident of Orford, and .one of her most worthy and 
respected sons. W T as engaged twenty live years in the 
mercantile business. Held many town offices ; represented 
the town five years in the legislature of the state, and is 
now United. States collector of Internal Revenue for the 
third District of New Hampshire. He. married Mary Ann 
Wheeler, February 6, 1833. They had two children, Dan 
iel, born December 8, 1836, Charles, bom February 8, 1839. 
Daniel married Harriet Frances Curtis, of Roxbury, Mass,, 
November 13, 1831, and is now doing an extensive whole- 
sale business in boots, shoes and leather, Boston, Mass. 

Charles graduated at Dartmouth College in i860. He 
studied the profession of law, and is now connected in 
business with James B. Richardson, Esq., Boston, Mass. 

Alexander Strong, son of Asa and Emily Wheeler, grad- 
uated at Dartmouth College in 1810. Married Augusta 
Hurd, of Charlestown, Mass. They have two children — 
Helen and Henry. Is' now resident of Boston, Mass., and 
is doing an extensive law business in connection with 
Henry C. Hutchins, Esq. 

John Lee wont South many years ago, Jlis residence is 
unknown. 



SAWYER. 

Thomas Sawyer was born at Hebron, Conn., in 1714. 
With his two eldest sous, came to Orford in the spring of 
1765 ; remained during the summer felling the forest and 
making preparation for the removal of his family. In the 
fall returned to Hebron, and remained during the winter. 
In June, 1766, came to Orford with his family, consisting 
of his wife, Hepsibah, and seven children, Jonathan, Ed- 
ward, Icliabod, Abel, John, Hepsibah and Mind well. He 
died September 8, 1785. His wife died March 22, 1792. 

Edward married and settled in Piermont. He was the 
father of Hon. Joseph Sawyer. Icliabod was born at He- 
bron, Conn., in 17-10, and died October 27, 1826. He mar- 
ried Anna Palmer. She died August 7, 1815, aged 88 
years. They had eight children, Isaac, Thcda, , Bela,. Jared, 
Anna, Aseneth, Patty and Icliabod. Theda married Capt. 
Jeremiah Marston. She-died April, 18 . l died May 

8,1815. Jared married Cynthia Dewey. She died April, 
:. They had three children, Sarah Ann, Bradley and 
Bela. Sarah Ann married John Richardson. She died 
December 12, 1857. Bradley died October 7, 1839. Bela 
married Deborah Josslyn, and resides at Lyme. Anna 
married Peter Marston, of P airlee, Vt. She died August, 
1862. They had five children, Dan'l G., Sarah Ann, Wil- 
liam Edward, Edward William and Henry. Daniel G. is 
a physician, and resides at Orford. Sarah Ann is married, 
and lives at Grand Rapids, Michigan. William E. is mar- 
ried ; resides at Troy, N. Y. He is a successful merchant. 
Edward W. lives at Norfolk, Va. Henry resides at Law- 
rence, Mass. All are married. Abel Sawyer was born at 
Hebron, Conn., in 1753. Married Mary Strong. He died 
March 2D, 1845, aged 92 years. His wife died August, 15, 
1841, aged 89 years. He was father of Benning and Jon- 
athan S. Sawyer. John was a clergyman, and died a few 
years since" at the age of 103 years. 

Jonathan married Tabatha Palmer ; was the father of 
Leonard and Benjamin C. Sawyer. 



REPORT 



OF — 



CENTENNIAL PROCEEDINGS, 



AT — 



OKFOKD, K H. 



JUN -U ' 



IQ 



